For years, decades even I was of the opinion that Ali lost to Frazier, thought it was closer than the majority, but yes had Ali winning. Then 3/4 years ago I came across a version of the fight from a different camera angle, sort of from a lower perspective if that makes sense ? and what became apparent to me was Ali,s placement of his shots were unswervingly accurate, time and again his Jab, right crosses were landing cleanly, not only that , they carried a lot of force, Joe took the punches well in the early part of the fight, towards the later stages they were starting to cause bruising and swelling , after the conclusion I had a moment of reflection, and changed my mind, the amount of punches Ali landed on Joe. for me out weighed the albeit heavier punches landed by Joe on Ali. From memory I think this was one of the first fights where a computer produced the stats of punches landed by both fighters, and the outcome was some thing like Ali landed nearly double the amount that Joe did, I know its sometimes about quality against quantity agreed, but on this occasion the former lost to the later. keep well.
Using the race angle was a dick move. White America wasn't shoveling lefthooks into Ali's ribs. That was Smokey
Pride. Plus, I think Ali was laboring under the notion that he gave his all (obviously) and still lost, thus the decision is wrong. Frazier went beyond his all and put one the greatest sports performances (not just boxing) in history. Ali apparently wasn't expecting all that. Or he did and simply gave too much of himself in hyping the fight. Nah, I don't think ANYone expected that kind of super-showing from Frazier. The only time I've seen anything like it since was Duran-Leonard I.
I appreciate the unconventional opinion, very honest. But really, nearly double the amount of punches?
Yes mate, I vividly remember people citing that fact to underscore a Ali victory, rightly so I now believe, maybe some of the " older " posters can verify ? keep well.
I’m Ali’s biggest fan, but Joe won. I do believe it was extremely close though, as it seems that as time’s going on the scale of Frazier’s victory seems to be getting wider.
Here's what CompuBox had to say about the punches landed: CompuBox @CompuBox · Mar 8, 2017 ON THIS DAY: Frazier (378) W 15 Ali (330) combined to land 708 punches. 365 of Joe's connects were power shots (63%). They threw 1524 punches.
So according to this CompuBox account, not only did Ali not land more nearly twice as many punches, *Frazier* connected more often. Considering many more were of his were power shots, & everyone seems to concede Frazier was the better ring general & aggressor, + the accounts by rounds seem to make it if anything more clear, & he scored the only knockdown... How can this fight be seen as anything else but as pretty competitive, but a very clear win for Frazier, & *not* extremely close?
I think there are also many boxers, which barely would admit a loss. At least Ali was very self-critical after his third fight with Ken Norton. I remembered something and looked up just now: "Ali said during an interview with Mark Cronin in October of 1976: "Kenny’s style is too difficult for me. I can’t beat him, and I sure don’t want to fight him again. I honestly thought he beat me in Yankee Stadium, but the judges gave it to me, and I’m grateful to them."" [source wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_vs._Ken_Norton]
