I go for Frazier. I just can't see Patterson having the endurance and stamina required to deal with Smoking Joe
IN 1967 Floyd was 32 ,still a fine fighter ,but losing to Quarry placed him on the downside of his career imo .He gave a great effort against Ellis and should have got the verdict ,imo, but was a little past his best.Frazier would be too strong for him imo. A bad matchup stylistically.Joe takes it by a ko around the 9th
I have to agree with this. But I suspect that even a prime Patterson would have been demolished by Joe
It's entirely possible, however that before falling to Frazier, Patterson's lightning quick left hook would make some kind of statement, as the onrushing Frazier would present Patterson a chance to, if not "catch lightning in a bottle" exactly, to at least land something significant before going down to a foe who, as great as he was at the time, had not the single hard, power shots of Liston or Johansson, nor was as elusive and hard to hit as Ali. I think Frazier would overpower Floyd, but it would be possible that Floyd could land, by virtue of his incredible hand speed, asomething that may have delayed the inevitable for just a short while.
Yep, gotta agree. I always had a soft spot for Floyd, but he was a candidate for decapitation if put up against Frazier.