A lightheavyweight that could beat Joe Frazier?

Let's put it all in perspective...FOTC Frazier beat Ali,...what can a smaller man, a lightheavy, no matter how good, bring to the table that seriously threatens Joe Frazier?

 

Not waving their chin in the air for him?

 

A good question.

A smaller fighter needs some sort of equalizer to beat a bigger one.

Frazier specialized in beating technicians, which removes one of the potential equalizers.

What that leaves you with, is that a smaller fighter would have to have equal or better firepower, in order to beat him.

That might be possible if we are talking Dempsey, Marciano, or even Langford, but a guy who weighs under 175lbs?

Probably not going to happen.

 

I'll bookmark this and come back when they invent a LH who can go with Smokin' Joe.

 

And again, if the hardest hitting lightheavy of all got nowhere with his power, who will do it? Maybe,...just maybe, if Archie Moore connected with the same shot that decked Marciano, he would have floored Frazier as well, but there's no way that any lightheavyweight champ of the present or the past is beating the FOTC version of Frazier.

 

I don't think Ali did that to get decked.

 

He beat on a pretty serious Ali and absolutely destroyed a super game, vastly user rated Ellis who had beaten Bonavena, Martin, Quarry and others .. whe were talking size and pound for Frazier is right up there .. and all blind in an eye for most of his career .. amazing ..

 

Of those not mentioned:

The Braddock who beat Baer might have an outside chance. He was tough and could handle the punch, and sometimes when the stars align a fighter accepts their destiny, no matter who is in the other corner. Joe might just have an off night and struggle to find his best, losing a close one. Unlikely but Braddock rising to the occasion is a possibility.

But, realistically, for a light heavyweight i think the best chance has to be Fitzsimmons. He can handle the workrate and turn it around as evidenced in his fight against Sharkey. He can handle a heavyweight of Joe's size punching him quite well, as evidenced by the punishment he took (and handed out) against Jeffries. A controversial one here, but he destroyed as many or more top line fighters (not necessarilly better) than George Foreman. His power, particularly when he landed cleanly, may just be on par or better than Foreman.

Joe's over reliance on his left hook and rhytmn does make him a little predictable which means that the greatest trap setter of all time is likely to find a way to catch Joe cleanly. If this happens, we could easily see a KO, tough as joe is.

Obviously, the weight difference is a problem for Fitz, and of course the time difference argument is always strong. But, if Fitz ever transports into the 70s in a time machine and Kos one or two contenders, he must be given serious consideration. IN fact, i think he is the best chance of all the light heavyweights.

 

OK so it has come down to the best finisher.

Says it all.

Install Bob Saterfield as the next best bet!

 

I thought the post said LH,

 

Pretty sure Bob Foster was regarded as an atg light heavy, Frazier destroyed him. A prime RJJ would stand a good chance with his reactions but it would get tough on the later rounds for sure. A saw someone earlier said a Hearns could but that would never happen. Hearns is one of my all time favourites but at light heavy or whatever weight Frazier ruins him.

 

If Golovkin moves up to 175 pounds ....

 

I'd favor Frazier over any LHW who ever fought. With that said I'd give these guys the best chance at upsetting him-

1. Ezzard Charles
2. Michael Spinks
3. Archie Moore
4. Roy Jones Jr.

 

I struggle to name a light heavyweight who could beat a consensus great at heavyweight operating at the peak of his powers.

 

I don't think any light heavyweight could have beaten Frazier.
Unless they had the strength and power to put him on the back foot, the nearest I can give a shot is Spinks.