Greatness of Joe Frazier

I've long been a fan of Smokin Joe Frazier. Of course I like his come forward style with head and body attack and his big left hook. Frazier I think belongs in the top ten list of heavyweight champions probably 9 or 10. He didn't have the biggest number of fights however he made up for it in quality. His lack of big fight numbers has always been cool to me since his record wasn't really padded with a lot of filler. 37 fights pales next to a lot of heavyweights and certainly in terms of many lower weight fighters but it was a solid 37.

 

- Olympic gold medalist
- linear heavyweight champion
- 10 title fight wins ( I believe )
- first to dent Muhammad Ali’s record
- only beaten by two of the very best

Yes. I can’t question Frazier’s greatness

 

He holds probably the biggest win over any heavyweight ever. Ali had two tune ups, was under 30, knocked the crap out of him for a good portion of the fight, and Joe still came through with an obvious victory.

Ellis and Quarry were at the time considered quite big wins, but even if it was just the one above....Frazier belongs on that top 10 imo.

 

Oscar Bonavena
Buster Mathis
Bob Foster
Jimmy Ellis
Manuel Ramos
Dave Zyglewicz
Jerry Quarry
Muhammad Ali

That’s pretty dense work for 3 years in his peak its quite evident of his decline with his title defences, losses and so-so performances afterwards I think Ali took the last of him and life / stylistic issues caught up and extracted there toll.

 

Has anyone else noticed something actually… why do we assume Ali would beat Frazier in the 60s? More dancing? We saw how that played out and it was mostly one sided, he had all his success by taking the Klitschko route. I personally think Frazier always wins the first fight whenever it happens.

 

What a record!

Muhammad Ali
Jerry Quarry II (coming off the Shavers and Lyle wins)
Jimmy Ellis I
Jerry Quarry I
Oscar Bonavena II
Oscar Bonavena I
George Chavulo
Buster Mathis
Eddie Machen
Joe Bugner
Jimmy Ellis II
Doug Jones
Bob Foster
Ron Stander
Terry Daniels
Manuel Ramos
Dave Zieglewicz
Billy Daniels

 

One of my favorite fighters ever. You guys have hit the major points. A dense career highlighted by the best victory in the division's history.

 

He might actually be my favorite heavyweight, besides what has already been said Marciano thought very highly of him

I think his body shots on Ali probably hurt worse than Foreman's, Frazier really dug in, it would have been great to see how much it took away from 60's Ali's legs

 

Yea Joe stepped up to fight Oscar Bonevana in 1966. Oscar was a top 10 heavyweight with twice the experiance. That was Frazier's 12th pro fight.

 

My all-time favorite fighter of any weight class. Joe Frazier was the ultimate warrior-and his performance against Muhammad Ali in the FOTC is to this day one of the greatest displays of courage and sheer will to win I've seen from anyone in sports. (I really believe Ali beats ANYBODY else that night except Frazier!)

Nobody had more heart than "Smokin Joe."

 

I'm watching the Ellis tournament run (one of my favorite heavies ever) and the so-called middleweight bludgeons Leotis Martin, makes Bonavena circle and drops him twice, outpoints Quarry, gets that controversial win against Patterson, and while it seems he is the main character of the story, overcoming all obstacles, he runs into prime Frazier.

Ellis was arguably one of the fastest starters in history, and not* just a slugging starter, but a vicious boxer-puncher. Prime Frazier actually breaking him in four is a huge testament to how dangerous he was at the time.

 

Tremendously underrated today. Especially by younger fans.

 

Ali would be at his absolute peak in 1968-69 and Frazier wouldn't be as good as he was in 1971 yet. That's why Ali wins. Especially looking at the fact that the first fight was closer than some people think it was.

 

Frazier's own trainer said Joe was too green for Ali in 1967. The fight could have been made but Durham did not want it as he did not believe Joe was ready.

 

I've always believed that 8-6-1 for Frazier was the most accurate scoring for the FOTC. (Which is how referee Arthur Mercante scored it.)