Send in your great heavyweights to beat Manila Ali.

Joe Frazier 1971

 

Source?

 

Mike Tyson
Joe Louis
Evander Holyfield
Wlad Klitchsko

 

I'm starting to think peak Bowe would give Ali some trouble.

 

I’ve heard it all now.

 

Not much he could do…except give him a beating he never recovered from? That Ali called, “the closest thing to dying that I know of?”

 

I recall Futch saying something like that which only pissed Frazier off even more and motivated him for the fight.

 

It would need to be a heavyweight that could possibly
ko him early, (Which is in itself was damn near impossible )
because as the fight drags on most of the heavyweights in history
their offensive output really began to fall off around 7-8 rds .
Especially the so called "super heavy's of the last 20-30
yrs.
A heavyweight with the speed , offensive
skills, and power to get to him early and often.
Only three fits that bill.
Tyson, Louis, AND FOTC Frazier.
And of those three only one proved he
had the toughness to endure what's
coming back at him.
So FOTC Frazier is the logical answer.

 

Ali-Frazier 3 Sports Illustrated. "Ali fought a smart fight. He conserved his energy, turning it off when he had to. He can afford to do it because of his style. It was mainly a question of anatomy, that is all that separates these two men. Ali is now too big..." SI 60 Lawdy, Lady. He's Great

 

Well I don't have the magazine so I can't confirm the veracity of that statement. It's of course absolute rubbish considering Frazier took Ali to the brink of death, and ruined him as a fighter.

Why didn't Ali just balloon up to 225 in TFOTC if that was the case?

 

And so it will be, for once more had Frazier taken the child of the gods to hell and back. After the fight Futch said: "Ali fought a smart fight. He conserved his energy, turning it off when he had to. He can afford to do it because of his style. It was mainly a question of anatomy, that is all that separates these two men. Ali is now too big, and when you add those long arms, well...Joe has to use constant pressure, and that takes its toll on a man's body and soul."

LINK:

SI 60: 'Lawdy, Lawdy, He's Great' - Sports Illustrated

 

Frazier, obviously as he defeated once already.

Dempsey, I mean the Willard Dempsey , buy only in the first 4 rounds.

Louis has a slight chance.

Lennox Lewis, only due to his size.

No one else could join this group.

 

There was also a re-run of the fight aired i think in the late 80's or early 90's where Ferdie Pacheco and another guy interviewed Dundee, Futch, the referee etc, in between each round, and i also remember Futch saying that Ali had grown too big and long for Joe in that fight

 

I learn a lot from this board. Another poster mentioned Ali fought like a pressure fighter in the 13th and 14th round. I never looked at the fight that way.