If Ali hadn't been banned

True. Ali was awesome anyway,but if he'd been active during those three and a half years....!!!!!

 

The flip side to this is that Frazier may have been beaten decisively and earlier. Foreman also would not have had the reputation in his KO defeat and Norton may have even been considered pretty ordinary if Ali had beaten him quite easily. In this scenario, one has to wonder how highly Ali's era would have been criticised, and without the Frazier and Foreman wins/Losses would Alis chin be highly questioned?

Although he probably would have been a much better fighter, it is not guaranteed that him or his era would be rated as highly because of it.

 

Good points Boilermaker :good Ali's stock would have been lower,in consequence.

 

No matter what happened,,,,,,,,the WBA Elimination Tournament was going to happen.

This line-up according to Bill Faversham, Alis' former business manager.

Ali could not satisfy all challengers.
Joe Fraziers style would have been trouble for Ali in 69'/70 no matter what.

Ali did have a tentative bout set with Osacar Bonavena in Japan, for late 67'.

1968; may have not have looked pretty on his ledger;
February; Amos Lincoln (In Las Vegas)
April; Piero Tomasoni (In Italy)
June; Eduardo Corletti (In Argentina)
August; Roger Russell (In Iceland)
October; Dante Cane (In New York)
December; Buster Mathis (In Chicago)

1969, would have been the interesting year.
February; Bob Cleroux (In Canada)
April; Jerry Quarry (In California)
October; Floyd Patterson II (In New York)

1970;
March; The Fight of the Century (In New York)

 

wonder if he would have still been so horrible and racist to smokin joe.

Joe would have still beat clay anyway.

 

March 1970.....Joe Frazier beats Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali easier.
Maybe by Knock-out in 11.

 

frazier woulda been fighting a better conditioned ali so he wouldn't tire as easily as the comeback version (timing, reflexes, experience etc would be better). be a hard fight but no way it'll be easier for frazier (the opposite would be true).

p.s. ali was always horrible to fighters like frazier who kept calling him clay. e.g. patterson, terrell - thought you woulda worked that out by now.

 

People forget, Joe Frazier was really a quicker and faster fighter in 1969/1970.

His punches really hurt, and his right hand was more of a tool back then.

I still believe Smokin Joe would get to Ali in rounds 5 thru 10, and stop him
soon thereafter.

 

Most of those guysnever got title shots anyway. How did you come up wiht that list? Frazer would have been earlier for Ali without the ban.

 

ali woulda been a lot better in 1969 (27 years old) than the version frazier faced so it works both ways.

 

true he was quicker but i agree with the consensus that frazier was at his best all around during the FOTC.

ali without the layoff would have been much quicker, notably of foot, and his conditioning would have been such that he wouldn't rest on the ropes.

no way in hell is this fight easier

 

we never saw really a prime ali, he would have been in his prime in the years 68-69. and no, frazier would not beat this version of ali. joe had the perfect style to give problems to a more static ali 70s. but a prime ali had very fast legs. he was much more mobile

 

I agree that Frazier was a bit quicker in '68-'70 before he started suffering from arthritis & high blood pressure, but he was still a phenomenal fighting-machine in '71.

Pre-Exile Peak Ali of '65-'67 was a lot quicker than after his 3.5 years of rusting though too.

 

peak frazier was in 70-71. not in 68-69