Does Ali v Frazier II have anything going for it??

Outside of Ali landing a good right hand and staggering Frazier in Rodin two ( I think ) the fight was not very memorable. Too much clinching. I never scored this one. What were the official scorecards?

 

Referee: Ali 6, Frazier 5, 1 even.
Judge 1: Ali 7, Frazier 4, 1 even.
Judge 2: Ali 8, Frazier 4.

 

It tends to get overshadowed by the first and third ones because it was a non-title 12 rounder,and did n't have the status of FOTC or the sheer brutality of the Thrilla. Nonetheless,it was still a damn good fight. Imo,it was the most one sided of the trilogy. Out of the three battles,I consider that Ali did the best in the second,Frazier,obviously,in the first. That's why I've always thought that the 1971 Frazier v the !974 Ali would be a thrilling hypothetical fight.

 

It was a inconclusive fight because it became a ref's fight ... Perez allowed Ali to clinch and hold all night ... see for yourself ... it is a classic example of a ref significantly impacting the ebb and flow of a bout ... any wonder why the first and third fights were terrific ? They were allowed to fight ...

 

Good fight. The pace was very fast compared to recent heavyweight fights.

 

Says a a guy with Wlad in his avatar lol jk. Anyways, I agree. It was alright the first few times I saw it but then I tried to rewatch it a few days ago and I found it unbearable. To be fair to the second fight, the other two in the trilogy were classics so it would be hard for that fight to compare to them anyways.

 

It's not very exciting, but the skill and pace of the fight is still very good in general. It's probably only Ali buffs that really get something out of it, though, since it's interesting to see what he had left at this stage.

It was his last exhibition of really good, sustained footwork.

 

Harry Carpenter wrote that this was the fight in which Ali regained the speed of his 1960s career. At his very best, when things were going his way, he wasn't necessarily as exciting a fighter as he was compelling personality.

Tony Perez was abominable in this one, and not for the only time by a long shot. He short changed Muhammad out of a huge round two by stepping in prematurely, then over compensated by permitting the subsequent clinch fest.

What Perez did though should not detract from the fact that this was the fastest, leanest, earliest starting, most battle ready and best prepared Ali we saw in the 1970s. This was the fifth consecutive time he went the 12 round distance, and he was four months removed from pushing himself to the limit in the second bout with Norton. In the second round, he unleashed the quickest display of power seen from him since Cleveland Williams, and this was the last time he weighed what he weighed for Williams and Terrell. (Actually, a fraction of a pound less.)

If Frazier had challenged Ali for the title in 1968 or 1969, this is the match it might have have most closely resembled among the three they actually engaged in.

Kinshasa was not an optimal ring environment for Ali, and he was forced to improvise the rope a dope. MSG was familiar indoor territory to both Ali and Frazier though, and a good neutral environment for them to compete in.

Joe had won the FOTC, so I don't believe he quite had the same chip on his shoulder that an Ali seeking redemption for his first loss had.

A strong case can be made that this was the very best, most finely tuned Ali to step foot in the ring during the 1970s. If he could have gotten Foreman in the same venue later that October, maybe he would have shown his natural mode of boxing to even better effect, but high heat and humidity combined with loose ropes and a slower ring surface in a third world country necessitated a new and different approach which defies comparison.

 

The second fight was a 12 rounder fought in 1974 for the people's championship and I think the New York state belt, as well.?.?

Ali was really sharp and boxed well... He had Frazier's number all the way... Ali won by boxing a masterful fight... I had Ali up 8 to 4 over 12 rds against Frazier in 1974...

Ali: 116
Frazier: 112

MR.BILL

 

Exactly :good The 1974 Ali would have been a handful for any great heavyweight in their prime.

 

That's the score that I had Mr.Bill.

 

It would be interesting to match this Ali up with other 32-year old HWs. Off the cuff, I see a 32-year old Lewis as a very tough match-up, but other than that...

 

The big thing with the fight was that it was not even for the title. Care to name some examples over the last 30 years 2 huge names meet in a bout like this?

At the time, Big George was viewed as the champ and frazier could not beat him. And with Ali struggling a couple times with Kenny Norton, the feeling was Ali better never face the guy.

Awful awful hard to follow up the fight of the century with another all time classic. Somehow they did it their third fight, although nobody was picking Joe in that one.

 

Neither man was champion. Ali was in slightly better shape from the FOTC, but he did enough hugging, mugging and holding that Perez ignored. Any other ref would have deducted more than one point from Ali.