Fox 29 Wishes the Late Joe Frazier a Happy Birthday, Touts City Hall Appearance

The legendary boxer died in 2011. And January 11th isn't even his actual birth date.

Sign up to get the best of Philly, every day.

Early this morning on Good Day Philadelphia, the hosts wished Joe Frazier a happy birthday.

“Philadelphia boxing legend Joe Frazier celebrating his birthday today,” anchor Karen Hepp chirped. “Happy birthday, Joe! Also giving back to the community. He’s going to be meeting with friends and supporters at City Hall this evening to honor championship youth boxing teams and coaches. This year marks the 45th anniversary at Joe Frazier’s gym, located in North Philadelphia. The space has been used to develop several young athletes. He’s turning 73 years old today.”

“He really is a legend,” co-anchor Thomas Drayton replied. “Such a force.”

Yes, Frazier is a legend. But there were some issues with the report.

The first is that Joe Frazier was born on January 12th, 1944. His birthday isn’t until tomorrow! The second, of course, is that Frazier has been dead since November 7th, 2011.

The clip was first reported by FTV Live, a website that covers local TV news and gossip.

A Fox 29 spokesperson declined to comment on how the report made it to air, but confirmed Good Day Philadelphia ran a corrected report later in the broadcast.

Frazier, needless to say, won’t be at City Hall tonight, unless his ghost and Ali’s are fighting one last time atop of William Penn’s hat.