Is anyone here old enough to remember Frazier losing the title to Foreman?

When a person is small for his weight class and wins because of conditioning and intensity, but then that person gains 10 pounds of weight and the weight is all around his waist, he is not going to be the same fighter. The fat shows that the fighter has not trained with the same intensity and probably isn't ready mentally either. Reporters and fans were probably surprised by the result, but people in boxing probably were not.

 

I didn't see the fight till about a week after it took place.

I remember hearing coming out of a cinema that Frazier had been utterly destroyed. I assumed the source was joking and thought nothing more about it till the next day when I saw the papers.

It was a big shock to hear that Ali's undefeated conqueror had been so thoroughly demolished.

A new era with a new monster !

At that point, I felt that Ali's quest to regain his title was hopeless.

 

My good bud and I decided not to go to the closed circuit broadcast for whatever reason??
We were playing cards (and self-medicating ) that night.
Later my friend said: "Call the sports line and see how Joe & George turned out."
I called and the guy said: "Foreman on a 2nd round stoppage."
I hung up and my friends said: "Well?
"I...don't know..." I said. I called back and the same guy said: "I told you a minute ago, Foreman, 2nd round stoppage!"
We were totally in shock.
That was our reaction at the time.

 

It was a huge upset. Frazier Post Ali 1 was considered unbeatable and his bout with Foreman just a stepping stone for Ali - Frazier 2.

 

Two years, with two fights against third raters didn't help. I was working in Algeria at the time

 

And in my eyes Joe was a changed fighter in those fights (and all the ones after).

Sometimes I wonder if the Ali-Frazier 2 fight delineated most obviously the differences in Joe since FOTC. This was not the seemingly maniacally-obsessed/had-enough-of-hearing-how-he's-the-uncrowned-champ-and-basically-just-had-enough-of-HIM Joe Frazier.

That second fight Joe was almost ready to go out in the second round (boy, that sure wasn't old Joe, who took so many ugly shots from Ali in FOTC and kept coming on). Gone was that supernaturally determind look of "hey fool, you don't hurt me, I'm gonna Git You Sucka" that was ubiquitous in FOTC.

The 2nd Ali-Frazier fight looked like an already-past-his-prime Joe who showed up for the cash alone. Just my opinion.

I think the flashes of greatness Joe showed in TiM were mostly due to once again getting SICK of Ali's pre-fight antics. I think the whole gorilla thing REALLY irked him (who could blame him?).

 

I think the premise that Frazier was damaged goods gets very overplayed.He looked pretty much the same old Joe in his second fight with Quarry, imo. Nobody forced him to go fronting a band ,fight 2 nobodies and avoid his ranked contenders for 2 years. Durham thought lets get Foreman out of the way before he gets more polished,get him while he's still raw and green.that's my take on it.

 

I believe that as well

 

Quarry was 'fried' prior to the 2nd Frazier scrap...divorce, coke, journeyman Alexander clocking him 3 months prior. A pathetic effort against Norton 8 months later...when did Jerry ever want to quit? Against Joe in the 2nd, asking Joe Louis to stop the fight!! (how do former boxers rate reffing a fight?...Louis let Jerry take FAR more punishment than he should have)...

 

George likes to tell a good story!

 

I love Big George, but he can be very inconsistent.

George looked murderous, not scared. He even got Joe uglier during the stare down. Fat lot of good it did Joe.

 

I've made this point many times and been vilified for it
JF was a shell of the guy from the FOTC and it helped create the myth of BGF the invincible force .

 

Silly. Foreman was the only fighter ever to manhandle and destroy Frazier and he did so twice. To write these wins off as nothing special is just plain stupid. Foreman’s power is no myth.

 

You're right imo. Frazier still fits in the top ten ATGs, even though Lewis, Holyfield, Holmes, and all happened after.