If the FOTC was a 12-round fight? Who wins? Does this all-time classic, become the now routine "all I need is 7 rounds, and I outbox my opponent". In the 15 round fight, Frazier made big impressions on the judges, in the 11th & 15th rounds with putting Ali on "qu**r street", or knocking Ali down. (The Fight Plan of Ali vs Frazier #2: "The only violation," Perez said after the bout, "is if you held and hit at the same time. Ali was holding, but he wasn't hitting." Futch reviewed the film and said Ali had held Frazier 133 times during the fight. Mark Kram of Sports Illustrated wrote: In the end, it was a unanimous decision for Ali: ring generalship over a one-man army fighting a war of attrition. If the fight ever seemed close, it was only because of Frazier's incessant pursuit, which cannot fail to impress even those who may consider it plug ugly, and the occasional bursts—spaced far too far apart—of his left hook. For years it had been sudden evil, yet now it seemed only a moderately bad dream to Ali. For Ali knew what he was about on this night, recalling all the little things that make one a survivor: tying an opponent up, clever volleying when it would count the most, skirting sure trouble like a bank robber.)
Scores were 8-6-1, 9-6, 11-4 for Frazier. I suppose (don't know if that's true) that all 3 judges gave Frazier rounds 13-15. In that case, it would've been a draw: 5-6-1, 6-6, 8-4.
Assuming the twelve rounds went the same as the first twelve rounds in real life, Frazier would have won a split decision: 8-4 and 9-3 on the judges' cards, with Ali winning 6-5-1 according to the referee.
Smoke would have still won a decision. Would have if the fight had been scheduled for 20 rounds. That was Joe at his ultimate best. Only thing about twelve rounds is we'd have probably been denied that beautiful, perfect left hook dropping Ali.
Pace is everything and when you know you have 3 more rounds to go you are going to conserve a bit in the tank. Having said that - for the sake of the subject matter - I scored it 7-6-2 for Frazier giving rounds 13 & 15 to Joe and round 14 to Ali. If it was a 12 rounder, I had it 5-5-2 Even. However, the NY scoring allowed supplemental points to be employed in the event of a judge having an even card. Therefore, I would add an extra point to Frazier's score for his 11th round and turn in an 6-5-2 score for Frazier.
