Could Ali have beaten Frazier in 1971 with one more tune-up fight?

I think it's very possible.two additional competitive fights would be better.
Ali did not trust his stamina in FOTC and went to the ropes to save his legs.imo.
With one ,or ideally 2 fights under his belt ,he would have had the confidence to move more and not allow Frazier to pummel him in the corners. Added to this Ali's timing would have been that fraction better, he had looked pretty bad against Bonavena ,imo . I think real ring action would have made the difference,and he would have pulled out a close decision win.

 

I agree with leaning toward two fights.

 

It's possible, but I'm not sure if the additional stamina would help significantly as Ali unsuccessfully tried to adjust mid-fight and Frazier was just on a mission that night.

 

The fight was rushed for the money and the fear at any moment Ali would lose his license again ... He fought Quarry and was very lucky the fight had such a fast stoppage on an early cut ... he was slowing down after a very fast first round and would have had a very tough bout ... five weeks later he fights Bonavena and has a very tough, punishing fight, gets hit more than in his previous career combined ,most of which was forgotten because of the dramatic finish ... then Frazier three months later ... it would have been far better for him to have given his body a few more months off to rest , say another tune up in April or May and then a late summer or September fight w Joe ... would he have won ? Maybe or maybe not but the fact that he put up as terrific fight as he did was one of his most courageous achievements ..

 

Maybe, just maybe. It may have made more of a difference.
But just two fights after a few years lay off isn't much.

 

Definitely would make it harder, but at the end of the day that Frazier was the bane of any man who couldn't put him down.

 

The Frazier of FOTC would have been a tough man for Ali to beat at any point of his career. At 205lbs was a beast with stamina and a secret weapon that Ali was vulnerable to, a great Left hook and pressure. Both men had great stamina and came to win.

I think a question should also be asked, had Frazier been able to maintain the conditioning he had for the FOTC 206lbs of muscle, would he been able to defeat Ali in fight 2-3

Joe only had 26 fights and Ali 31 fights but after the first fight Frazier became a big star and a party animal.

Ali was always in condition, even during his exile but was strong for Quarry and in excellent condition for Bonavena who pushed him.

Ali was ready for Frazier but was Frazier ready to become as big as he became with that victory over Ali in FOTC?

 

Ali wasn't ,"always in condition", as the video of him in the computer fight with Marciano proves.I saw him give an exhibition after the Foreman fight and he was fat ,a good 235lbs or more I'd say,he also wasn't in shape for Young and hardly trained for the first Norton and Spinks fights.

 

Agreed, I believe after beating Ali Joe had climbed the mountain, he was the undisputed heavyweight champ and had beaten a guy most thought would beat him. No where to go but down.

 

I think he could have, yes.

 

Frazier was an animal, absurdly underrated and maybe, just maybe the best P4P heavyweight champ when you factor in he has blind in one eye and fought very tough and some pretty big and powerful guys .. he was a small swarmer , partially blind , taking on anyone ... under the circumstances he was not built for a long career ... when you look at him in the same ring as Foreman he looks tiny ... Foreman, BTW, was the largest looking 225 to 230 pound fighter I've ever seen ... I'll tell you all one thing ; you take the 1976 Foreman, still just 28 years old and fighting at about 230 and you put him in the ring today with the training, nutrition and who the hell knows what else and you have Francis Ngannou .. George was exactly that sort of physical freak of nature ...

 

Muhammad Ali was as rusty as a gate heading into FOTC in March 1971, he had been idle for 43 months, did not train or spar, the last fight he had was a title defense against Zora Folley on March 22 1967 in Madison Square Garden, Ali stopped a game no.1 WBA contender Folley by TKO 7. In March 1967, Ali had all of his physical gifts, the speed, stamina, timing, reflexes, and the footwork. Ali spent his 43 month exile lecturing on the college circuit to make money for his legal defense as his license was suspended, and he was stripped of his title for being convicted of Draft Evasion. When Ali returned in Oct 1970 to face no.1 contender Jerry Quarry, he hit harder but was very rusty, his once famous reflexes, and timing were gone. Against Oscar Bonavena in Dec 1970, Ali was clearly exhausted heading into round 15, he was more flatfooted, his once legendary stamina was also gone. As another talented poster pointed out, Ali could not trust his once nimble legs in the FOTC, he laid on the ropes, took a lot of head shots, could not evade Joe Frazier's head shots, was more vulnerable, his stamina as in the Bonavena bout was shot. Perhaps a bout or two may have helped Ali but maybe it wouldn't have. To defeat Frazier, Ali would have needed all of his gifts from 1967 to accomplish that feat. In 1967, Ali's camp had offered Joe Frazier's camp a proposal for Ali to defend against Frazier but Joe's manager Yank Durham rejected the idea, stating that Frazier was too green for champion Ali. This was revealed in a July 1967 newspaper article in our local paper. As a sign of protest, Joe did not participate in the 1967 WBA Tournament.

 

He probably would have won the FOTC if he didn't antagonize Frazier.