[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9l_RrjjTMc[/ame] Rewatching this fight. One of the things I recognized early was every blow that connected to Joe's head physically showed; he moved his head each time. How Smokin' Joe managed to get up after the 2nd knockdown is beyond me! If you examine that punch and the combination leading up to it, you see Joe teetering like a seesaw, hanging on for dear life literally on the ropes! Foreman's exploited his range to great effect, and early on did typical box-by-the-books work, always moving to joe's left..until he knew he could finish joe, in which case he gradually went whacking away literally cutting him down by size.
What amazes me,after all these years,is that the fight was allowed to go on after the third knockdown. It was obvious,then,how it was going to end.
This was not the Joe Frazier who beat Ali in the FOTC in March 1971...after that fight...Joe was never the same again...he left himself in the ring that night back in '71...
I agree completely, but i also don't think FOTC Frazier was as good as 68-69 Frazier.....Either way I still have a hard time seeing Joe beat Foreman even at that stage??? Seems to just be a horrible style advantage???
Very true about the style thing. Even a 1969-71 incarnation of Frazier gets bombed out by a prime Foreman.
The uppercut landing for the second knockdown would have put most fighters to sleep. The fact that it was right on the jaw and Joe being so much shorter than George adds to the impact. Also, the last punch of the fight was brutal. Frazier would just not quit.
