Would Ali have won the FOTC had he taken more tune up fights before?

Frazier would have killed ZAIRE Ali ,,,

 

I can't see that.

 

Why didn't he kill him in their rematch which was nine months earlier or their rubber match which was twelve months later?

 

well because

 

When I saw the Bonavena fight, I just thought Bonavena gave him a good fight lol I didnt think it was Ali not being sharp. To my credit, I was only 12 and wasnt thinking about body rust, not practicing, etc. I barely knew that people got old lol..but credit to the Argentine who did give it his all.

 

I will say that another fight, depending on the opponent, may have actually made it easier for Frazier to win.

Depending on how long the other fight went, that's 5 or 6 or 10 more rounds of punishment to Ali's body. And those years were the golden era of the Heavyweights, when

 

That's what I think. That was Joe Frazier's night, the night of his life. If you asked him about that night, I expect that he would say that he felt great all day, felt like he couldn't lose, that he felt like he could fight forever, that those 15 rounds felt like they lasted 15 seconds, and that he wishes they could have fought 15 more. Because he knew he would never feel that way again.

 

Nor me. 'Zaire Ali' was better than 'FOTC Ali' in my opinon. He'd lost no more speed in the three and a half years between bouts,was sharper and in better condition. And most importantly by the time of the latter bout,Muhammad had learned how to compensate for the slight loss of speed and workrate picked uo during his 1967-70 exile.

As for the topic of the post - I think that Muhammad would have still had to lose to Joe before he beat him in future bouts.

 

I was referring to the 1971 version of Frazier, who in my opinion beats any version of Ali

 

Wrong — that’s a revisionist take not supported by the record or by Ali’s own words. He was off for over forty months, fought Jerry Quarry on just six weeks’ notice, and after an impressive first round was visibly tiring by his own admission. The bout ended early due to a bad cut, which was more fortunate timing than dominant conditioning.

Then, instead of pacing his comeback, he was rushed straight into Bonavena — a fight in which he looked sluggish and was hit more often than in any bout of his earlier career. It was a dreary, sobering performance, redeemed only by a once-in-a-career stoppage in the final round. By the end of it, his body was clearly depleted.

The Frazier fight was pushed prematurely — in large part because his team feared the window on his license and public momentum might close. Ideally, after such a long layoff, he’d have spaced out the fights and built himself back properly for an opponent as physically relentless and in-prime as Frazier. This was later expressed by his physician Ferdie Pacheco and trainer Angelo Dundee ..

The remarkable thing isn’t that Ali was in “excellent shape,” but that he fought as well as he did under those circumstances — a testament to his will, not his conditioning. If you track his performances through 1972, you can see how much sharper, lighter, and more consistent he became once his comeback legs were truly under him.

 

So Ali and his team had an excuse. Thats original and as such should be taken as gospel and in no way “revisionist”. I love your take here. Its great! Lets all go with that one

You complete me

Stay safe buddy, chat soon!

 

He never stopped training… Ali sparred all across his exile, training for a title fight like one long 3 year camp? No - day to day gym work throwing hands with pro fighters? Absolutely. Ali enjoyed boxing he’d been doing it since he was 12 and sparred many times after his retirement but he stopped during his athletic prime? No and the evidence supports this.

 

Louis, Tyson, Lennox, Wlad, Usyk… I could go on for a little longer, not only would Louis beat Frazier he’d do a demolition job on him.

 

And Joe Louis would still run him over like a panzer tank…

 

Sarcasm’s easier than substance, I get it. Not surprising—you’re only a frustrated archivist parroting clippings, not an analyst who understands the fight game. Keep stroking yourself while I continue to dissect you— and it’s all memorialized here in evergreen fashion.