Foreman, waiting for a title shot against Muhammad ali, was scheduled to defend his number one contender spot against Jimmy Young, but young was cut in sparring and FOTC Frazier, fresh from our classic forum time machine, stepped in. George decides to fly to Puerto Rico a day before the fight without giving himself time to acclimatize. And i don't have to write a book about how excellent the shape Joe Frazier would be in for that fight. Who do you think would win this matchup IYO?
All depends on how much of Foreman's early offense Frazier manages to avoid. If he bobs and weaves under most of it then it's feasible that Joe bides his time and breaks George down later in the contest when the latter tires. However if Joe cannot get out of the way of the early Foreman storm then it's George's fight.
Frazier stops him in 9. Foreman might score a knockdown sometime in the first 4 rounds, but Frazier would chop him down. Two different fighters from the ones that met for Joe's title.
Foreman's fight to lose imho. If this was '76 Foreman I'd favor him but as I posted the other day, Foreman didn't seem to be even at his post Zaire best against Young for a variety of reasons.
Jimmy just had the smarts and ability for success against the big punchers like Lyle & Foreman. Frazier was not built the same way and would fall victim to his more powerful foe I do think that the Ali fight took a lot out of Joe so who knows
Frazier never beats Foreman, styles make fights and Foreman, despite not being at his best, was Joe's kryptonite.
And let's not forget that foreman was no longer using his "seek and destroy" style (coming after you from the start of the bell, cut the ring off on you with his excellent foot speed and beat you up).
Remember all you boxing "revisionists"...Foreman beat a shopworn Joe Frazier in 1973. The FOTC Joe Frazier beats Foreman! Frazier left everything he had in the ring that night against Ali at MSG on March 8, 1971. Joe was never the same again! On his way up...Foreman fought so many stiffs...he should have been working in a funeral home!
Puerto Rico or not, Foreman would not waste a bunch of energy in a hurry to KO Frazier. He would simply go back to the old strategy from their old fight pounding with the jab, keep Frazier off balance like a matador, and lining him up for uppercuts. Contrary to popular belief he was very relaxed in their Jamaican bout and fought at a measured pace until the last few knockdowns when he knew Frazier had nothing left and was target practice. The only way Foreman would lose is if he got impatient and insisted on pressing the issue--which would give the finely tuned Frazier an opportunity to drag him into deep waters later. That's a big if as I just don't see Frazier being able to avoid such an ugly clash of styles with his bobbing and weaving against Foreman's clubbing looping shots.
I’ve heard that Frazier adjusted his style a little for Foreman in 1976 resulting in a slightly longer fight. Therefore I’m not sure 1971 Frazier would have approached him in that manner. While I think A younger joe might do better against a mentally diminished Foreman I think he’d still be there to get hit. Frazier didn’t have the type of style or elusiveness or chin as Jimmy Young did to take as much advantage of a 1977 Foreman
i am going to make history by becoming the only poster here to add a poll AFTER reading the comments in his own thread.
