Great thread. Good insight. I believe Frazier had about 7 or 8 in that lefthook consistently but it was his precision and accuracy that made him so effective with it. It was short and sharp. Joe was able to muster concussive power with his shortest hooks on the inside. He didn`t need load up to knock guys out.
It is not necessary for him to be an exceptionally hard puncher to accomplish what he did, but the testimony of his opponents suggests that he probably was.
I honestly don't believe anyone could put it any better than you have. However I will try to give a comparison, albeit at a lower weight. I spoke to Alan Minter a few days before Sibson fought Hagler, and asked him who he favoured ( bearing in mind BOTH had stopped him ) he said " Every fukking punch Hagler hit me with hurt like fuk ", whereas Tony's shots weren't that much until he caught me with the money shot. " I suspect you could say the same about Joe. Everyone of his shots hurt like fuk, until you just had enough of them.
Frazier does not hit as hard as left hookers: Liston Ruddock. Morrison C*oney Dempsey Tua To name a few,what he possessed was the ability to fire ,instantly reload , and fire again all night long.
Who did he ko with it? Who is is best ko victim ? Doug Jones:think Frazier wore you down with repeated and incessant bombardments.
For today's standards, compared to super-heavies, he's somewhat featherfisted... In his time, and especially against cruisers, he could crack for sure, but of course nowhere near a guy like Foreman...
Understand your point, but don't agree, D.Wilder is a prime example. Almost every punch he threw a few weeks back was more a slap, then a punch. A lot of people are looking at the size, but not the technique or the skill level. Yet he's the heavyweight champ of the world today. If he was putting leverage into his shots, that fight would've ended in 1rd.
Frazier only fought one big puncher, and Foreman easily floored him. The next best puncher Frazier fought, in my opinion, was Bonavena. He floored Frazier twice and almost TKO'd him. Others who didn't land much stunned Frazier or buckled his knees. Frazier had a nice left hook, but it didn;t bother Foreman or Bonevena. His style all forward attack. No jab, a limited right, and a seldom used uppercut. Somewhat predictable. He's in trouble vs punchers...any puncher, and if the puncher has superior durability, a likely loser.
Bob Foster was a pretty good KO victim. Many will incorrecrtly argue that he was a one handed fighter. The reason that so many were unable to continue can be attributed to Frazier's lefthook though. Take a look at the lefthook he landed on Muhammad Ali in the 11th and 15th rounds in their first fight. The knockdown in the 15th round is a thing of absolute beauty.
Bob Foster was a stringbean lhvy who could never beat the top heavies and was stopped by non punchers such as Jones and Terrell. Knockdowns are not ko's. Frazier was an attrition puncher who stopped guys after incessantly banging on them , he couldn't dent Bonavena in 2 tries and pounded on Mathis all night before stopping him on his feet.Quarry was on his feet,Chuvalo was on his feet, Ramos quit on his feet,Ellis retired on is stool,Stander was retired on cuts, Bugner went the distance and so on.