Damn right. It would have been a grotesque parody of what had gone before. By the latter rounds we'd have two tired old men virtually propping each other up. Sad thing is because of their names somebody would have quite happily promoted it.
But worse. Neither Muhammad or Joe would have been able to launch a meaningful offensive by this time. Would have been hard for the judges to split them. A wafer thin decision.
Neither Ali nor Frazier belong in the ring at that point. They both would have been so shot that it would be a hard one to call. Perhaps Ali's physical deterioration was more advanced though. I recall hearing that Muhammad was seeking fight with Patterson prior to the first Spinks fight.. somebody in his Camp had a pretty good idea how shot he was
Floyd Patterson?bloody hell how old was he then?Ali was a cash machine for his hangers on .when you surround yourself with yes men they just tell you what you want hear not the truth.
I can remember reading an article in Boxing Illustrated, when Jumbo was being interviewed about his forthcoming bout against Joe, and he said, "will I beat him?, I'm afraid I might kill him". This proves that Cummings knew Joe was shot, but thankfully he didn't really hurt him too much, let alone kill him.
Even though Ali's physical deterioration was more more advanced,he still put up a competitive show against Trevor Berbick who,although far from an all time great,was still a notch or two in class above Cummings. That's why against a shot Frazier it would still have been a close run thing. Thank God we never saw it.
A lot worse Leonard and Duran still had something left in gas tank whereas Ali and Frazier had nothing
Frazier wasn’t that difficult to stagger in his prime. When a guy who has no quit in him with the swarmer style looses his power fighting someone good is dangerous to his health.
I seem to remember he weighed 237 for that fight,,, hideous either way for Joe. 220-225 at his age would have been about right
