Would Muhammad Ali benefitted from a third prep fight before the FOTC

Would Ali have benefited from one more bout before Joe Frazier? Sure; However, I don’t think it would have changed the outcome of the Fight of the Century. Why? Because Quarry and Bonavena were arguably the best possible preparation for Ali. Quarry was probably the closest fighter to Frazier in their era; he was a pressure boxer who fought at mid-range, engaged in exchanges, fought in the pocket, and was a similar size to Frazier. Bonavena was a rough, brawler with inside fighting ability, toughness, and a willingness to trade.

 

It stands to reason that additional activity might have shaken off more of the rust. Would it guarantee that he would have beaten Joe Frazier in 1971 ? I can’t say for sure. Who should he have fought ? The best opponent to help him prepare would have been a pressure fighter but I don’t know who.

 

Absolutely. He needed more time not only to shake off the rust, but to get better acquainted with his new body and its limitations. The Bonavena fight was pretty tough too, and a little time off between fights could have served him well. Some time off, more training time, and another tune-up fight to get sharp and also work on his style with his legs more limited could have been of service to him. Maybe a rematch with a Patterson or Chuvalo could have helped.

 

No, beating Ali was Frazier's purpose in life, Ali made himself the bane of Frazier's existence, there was nothing that could have properly prepared him for what he was up against

 

A few thoughts.

Ali did better in the rematch because he could make adjustments not because Ali was too rusty. Ali did better in rematches of fights he struggled in across the board because now he could look what he did wrong. Henry Cooper, Liston, Norton and Leon Spinks. Then in fight 3 when this advantage was lost with Norton and Frazier the pendulum swung back.

Ali put in a good effort and came out of the gate strong which if he was rusty he wouldn't have. Frazier was the one that made a fairly steep comeback. This was Ali's first competitive full fight. It's hard to attribute Ali struggling late in a fight to rust when Ali had never had a competitive full fight before. Frazier had a case to win 11 rounds. Ali had a case to win 8 or 9. The fight wasn't controversial. But if you swing one round it would have been.

Something important is that Frazier was 27 and Ali was 29. While two years isn't a lot and 29 isn't really old 29 is at or near an age where quick movers with Ali's style have often started a rapid decline. Thinking of Ezzard Charles and Jimmy Young. Now in 2026 we know Ali contended another decade and Frazier only half as long. But in late 1970 Ali and most observers would have probably imagined father time to be on Joe's side. And that the fight happening promptly would help Ali's chances.

Ali could have fought Ellis instead who he fought for the NABF after FOTC. If the FOTC had fallen through this is the most likely outcome. The other alternative title defense was George Foreman who was already ranked 2nd by this time. Frazier defended against Daniels and Stander but he was undisputed and had bought himself room for easier defenses by beating Ali. And these easier opponents usually got the shot for state or regional tie ins. Daniels was Texas champ and Frazier was trying to win over the states. Those easy fights played a political purpose. Later on Ali's easiest layup defenses were Euro fighters. Ali was the lineal champ he couldn't just fight anyone.

The title had been disputed for 3 years at this point. There wasn't much more stalling to be done. This is a time belts being disputed was problem to be solved. While disputed titles had been common in the early 20th century two guys from the same country coexisting as champ for years was not.

 

Chuvalo would have made for a good third tune-up. He would have taken Ali the full 15 and made him work all through them.

But I think it's more about the time he had than the number of fights. He went pretty much directly into camp for Quarry. then again for Bonavena before he had a few weeks until he started the one for Frazier. This in just six months after being off for more than forty,

I think he would have needed at lest a year, preferrably a year and a half. More spaced out fights against Quarry, Bonavena plus Chuvalo would probably have been close to ideal. Hard to say if that would have changed anything, though. Might have.

 

For reference, Fury started training for the comeback from his first retirement in November 2017, I think I remember him saying, and most agree he hadn't recovered as much as he would when he faced Wilder more than a year later.

It should be said that Fury seems to have had a worse life style while away than Alid did, but it's always hard to know what is absolute BS of what Fury says. That he blew up tp 400+ lbs is something I would take with more than a grain of salt.

 

There are pictures of Fury from that time frame (around the time Wlad fought AJ in particular)were he looks absolutely huge even compared to the 275/280 pound version against Ngannou and Uysk 2. Maybe not as much as he was claiming but I would bet comfortably over 350 pounds at least.

 

I don’t think so. Frazier was possessed for that fight and there was no one else who could have come near the intensity that Frazier brought to that fight. Ali before the ban could have dealt with that Frazier but any version of Ali after the ban would have lost.

 

It would have been very interesting if Ali could've fought someone like Chuvalo in March 1971 then fought Frazier 4-5 months later. One additional tough tune up fight followed by a few additional months of training and, who knows! (I still think Joe wins regardless if he comes into the fight with the same ferocious "win or die" intensity that he had in the FOTC!)

 

excellent question. It looked to me as though Ali beat the hell out of Frazier. another bout or two in between and a more disciplined fight plan and Im sure he could have at least gotten to a split decision in his favor

 

Absolutely based on who and when .... he was rushed terribly to take the Frazier fight because no one knew how long he'd have any license and if it was pulled no zillion dollar match ... he rushed from Quarry where he was lucky a bad cut ended the fight fast as he was already tiring to a war with Bonavena in which he looked terrible despite the highlight reel KO, having been hit more in that fight than his whole previous career , and then rushed three months later into Frazier .. his body was exhausted and he needed time to heal and rest ... he could have had four months off, then a fight against a light touch instead of a top contender and then six months for the Frazier fight and he very well might have won .