Tyson covered it more explosively early but Frazier was relentless and just kept chugging away with metronomic consistency.
Frazier, when not coming forward, moved around Chuvalo and Stander well. He stymied Jumbo Cummings with quick sidesteps. It wasn't simply as easy as standing ground or backing him up. In their rematch, Jerry Quarry tried circling right on him to no avail. And he did move well in getting out of several tight spots over the first four rounds in the Foreman rematch. Cummings almost knocked out Bruno in the opening round. (If Frank had hit the deck, it would've been over.) Jumbo never had Frazier in anything resembling that kind of trouble. Cummings kept trying to bull forward, and Joe kept stepping aside to let him by. (Even when rusty, overweight at 230 pounds and arthritic, Frazier also had much faster hands and was a vastly superior boxer to Jumbo. It was a good fight as a self contained event, and the audience in Chicago was pleased at the end. But Joe's hook was no longer the damaging shot it had been in the Foreman rematch The peek-a-boo, whether by Patterson, Torres or Tyson, wasn't something which impressed me with regard to ground coverage. (As it happened, the first five bouts of Tyson's I ever watched were actually the five which went to the final bell. Ground coverage wasn't something which attracted my attention.)
"Jumbo never had Frazier in any kind of trouble" is not a statement I'd say describes this fight. Frazier was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and was wobbled in the 8th and 10th round. He also didn't even win the fight, so I'm not sure how easy it could have been.
This. Tyson was faster. If you didn't have especially good footwork, Tyson was going to use his footspeed to trap you and finish you with quick and powerful combos. However, against genuine movers with excellent footwork, Tyson could at times struggle to cut the ring and trap them. Frazier, despite his slower feet, was more patient, better at cutting off the ring and blocking escape routes. Ali at 29 was still faster than any Tyson opponent and he couldn't get away from Frazier. So i will give the edge to Frazier, especially vs skilled movers.
Frazier. There is some gantry footage from FOTC and it is terrifying. There's no way Tyson could do such a thing consistently. Then again, Tyson was a better puncher with more outright speed. But in terms of closing the gap and keeping it closed, Joe Frazier isn't just the best heavyweight on film, he's perhaps the best on film. That is incredibly rare for a HW.
