How many remeber this fight being talked about. Frazier mentioned this to a reporter at Madison Square Garden while he was attending the Ali-Shavers fight. The idea was to go straight into a title fight with Muhammad without any tune ups,after being inactive since June '76. The following year,however Frazier caught hepatitis thus shelving the idea. What if it had gone ahead ? Ali had plainly slipped since Manila,but Frazier would have deteriorated even more. Imo it would have been a very slow fight with Ali winning a clear decision.
Do n't get me wrong. i'm glad it never happened too. As well as putting each other through more unneeded punishment,it would have spoilt the memories of fights 1 - 3.
Ali versus Frazier 4 in 1978 would've stunk..... Both guys were faded; Frazier more so than Ali, but Ali was getting ill with Parks syndrome by 1978..... The Ali who lost to Leon Stinks in early '78 was a slob and unmotivated at 224 1/2 pounds in Vegas...... But the Ali who showed up in New Orleans at 221 pounds was aging but well trained..... That Ali would outbox Frazier for a fourth time, in my opinion...... Ali was NOT told by his doctors about his Parks syndrome until 1984, however, it is clearly obvious to the naked eye that Ali had been ill several years prior to 1984...... My guess is, Ali began to suffer from the disease / syndrome as early as 1978...... MR.BILL:bbb