Ali didn`t win the 9th. He took a pretty vicious beating in that round. He did land a late flurry but if you watch the entire round it`s not even a debate. Frazier kicked his ass for 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
It was definately an Ali round - possibly his best round in the fight. All 3 judges and the AP gave the round to Ali. Frazier was edging the round in the first 2 minutes but Ali in the last 30 seconds of the round backs up Frazier and its the closest that Frazier looked like going down in the fight.
The ninth was a pretty close round. I have the fight clearly for Frazier but the ninth could go either way IMO.
No. Frazier wasn`t edging the round. He was dominating it. Ali was in just as much trouble earlier in the round. If you go back and watch the round again you`ll even hear Don Dunphy say `Ali`s in real trouble now` The judges did give the round to Ali that`s true. The last 20 seconds of a round don`t trump 2+ minutes. If Ali had scored a knockdown you may have a valid point. Even giving Ali the 9th a round he truly lost he still was beaten decisively.
It would have taken prime Ali to beat that Joe Frazier. No hwt was as ready and pumped to beat his opponent as was Frazier that night. He was a machine.
THIS IS THE WAY I SEE IT, THE 11TH ROUND was a big Frazier rd, Ali was actually more hurt in the 11th and the ropes saved him, the 15th was the punctuation. Big Frazier win competitive but dominant
Bummy is absolutely correct. If scored by the 10 point system both those rounds are at least 10-8. Round 11 could have been 10-7. Ali was OUT staggering all over the ring for half the round.
Great discussion. Some of the problem is the scoring system. In the old days a round was a round - you could edge a round and it was the same as a round with a knockdown. So a fighter who wins 7 rounds out of 15, with 4 or 5 dominant, can lose 8-7 when the winner has been technical and careful, but you leave the fight with the impression the loser hit harder and looked the better fighter. I suspect the contributor who scored the fight and saw Ali end with a lead was feeling that type of disconnect. Even with the 10-point must system, most rounds are 10-9 and many very different-looking rounds still get only the 1-point differential. About half the time the first round is a throwaway yet it goes 10-9 to someone and counts the same as a blistering Round Eleven with multiple big shots and real competitive fire being traded. Not sure what the answer is. If judges were trained to score 10-8 rounds and below based on a relative comparison between bland rounds and real fireworks, it could be a mess, given the way the current system is handled. Could you imagine giving Adelaide Byrd even more leeway? That's no solution. I had the fight 9-6 Frazier, by the way, but rounds 3 and 14, which I gave to Frazier, were very close, score them the other and you have it 8-7 Ali even with the 11th and 15th the most dominant rounds of the fight in Frazier's favor. Anyway, congrats to Smokin' Joe on his finest moment.
Frazier was already ahead on all scorecards prior to the KD. Even if he not only failed to get the KD, but lost the round entirely, Frazier would've still gotten away with a SD victory.
Not sure what is funnier the Ali fans who try to score this fight for him or the SRL fans who are convinced Ray beat Duran in Montreal