Frazier was ripe for the picking in '73. I'm not saying he would win - Joe himself later said that the style was simply all wrong for him - but I think the Frazier of the Ellis-Foster-Ali fights could have done a lot better than the '73 blowout.
Frazier would probably always lose to Foreman. Stylistically it was terrible for him. I would think if they fought 10 times, Frazier might land a punch and hurt Foreman in one or two of those fights. It is too big a disadvantage and Foreman was so physically strong.
"Styles make fights"; George not a good matchup for Joe, though it may have went a bit longer; Joe, in his prime, could set himself up a bit better and bob and move a little better but...the outcome probably never in doubt...eventually.
No. He may have been slightly slipping after FOTC but Frazier's style is so simple that in his case, slipping simply means that his activity level and youthfulness(the frequency of his Bob bob hook rythm) had diminished a few percent. He was always a slow starter and he always fought the same way. It's not like with other fighters who changed fundamentally with age, changed their styles,fell in love with their power or lost their technique. Frazier just slowed down a bit and I just don't think that a couple extra percent would have helped him win. There was no indication of that in the actual fight.
No version of Frazier beats Foreman, and that's not a sleight to Joe. He was a beast, there's simply some fighters you do not match up well with. George was his
He would do better. I think Joe may land more and maybe shake George a couple of times. He was quicker and sharper then. Still think Foreman stops him inside 5 or 6.
