I rate it a seven too. Frazier was a grinder, he wore you down with an incessant barrage of hooks which he had the ability to fire and reload all night.Which heavyweight of any ability did he actually ko ,Doug Jones?
Who did he, "separate from their senses ? " The only men of any class he ko'd were Doug Jones an ex light heavy and Bob Foster a light heavy.
I gave Joe an 8. Frazier had exceptional hand speed in his prime. That hand speed and his natural strength in his left gave him good power. Joes issue was lack of right hand coordination/power.
Jimmy Ellis. I don't think he had been dropped as a heavyweight up until he faced Frazier. If you watch the sequence of punches he caught Ellis in a corner and all those shots were short inside, very compact punches. He also sent Big Buster Mathis to the canvas with a pretty short hook in the 1968 fight. He had Ali reeling and almost out on his feet in their `71 fight from a very short precise hook. Later he had big Joe Bugner melting to the canvas from one left hook {though Joe should have finished him}.
He didn't ko Ellis, Jimmy was retired on his stool. Mathis was on his feet at the time of the stoppage I asked for quality men he KO'd there are only 2 on his resume, Foster, and Jones . Frazier beat on Mathis all night, he ground him down.
An 8. But if he fought today in an era where giants rule the heavyweight division a 7. If he fought in Marciano's time an 8.5.
He beat the living f3$k out of everyone but Foreman. Destroyed Chuvalo worse than Georgie. Took bugner out with 1 hook and then stood there instead of hitting him again and ko ing him. The man could crack and breakvthe wil l of most fighters
There might have been HW's who had single left hook harder than Smokin Joe but i doubt any threw left hook's with the intensity , accurate and often as Joe Frazier. Smokin Joe left hook i rate 7.5.
Joes a different kind of hitter. Quantity over quality, he broke u down over time with relentless pressure and "elevator" mixups. Bu that i mean he would go up and down stairs frequently changing the trajectory sometimes mid punch. This could buzz the opponent as they dont see it coming. Combine that with his underrated speed, accuracy, and timing and youve got a pretty nasty formula for punishment if u cant stop Joe. A guy who hits you with a 9 or 10 punching power but only hits you once or twice a round vs Joe who hit with maybe a 7-7.5 consistently, all throughout the fight, never slowing down or getting tired, Joe is going to do far more damage in the long run. If Joe fought today and guys were penalized for excessive clinching (which is what the ref is supposed to do) and were forced to fight frazier off in the trenches on the inside, i think he would do better than people think. Inside fighting is a lost art and Joe was one of the most well conditioned heavies of all time, another thing current fighters lack.
