1991 George Foreman vs. 1973 Joe Frazier

average fighters went the distance with a comebacking foreman, and we know 73 frazier is not average.I'd say frazier pts or ref stops foreman.Theres to much of a difference between 73 foreman and 91 to think its going to be similar.....

 

Joe still had too much heart, hustle and hand speed in 1973 to lose to 1991 George. Assuming 1973 Frazier had the experience of Kingston behind him, he'd be prepared to move as he did in their 1976 rematch. In his rematch with Frazier, Ellis had a difficult time trying to connect due to Joe's bobbing and weaving. Jimmy had considerably more hand speed than 1991 Foreman. Frazier had a better work rate than Tyson (who I've always believed would have lost to the elder George), and he didn't rely on individual bombs to get the job done. In this situation, I think he'd be planning on a decision win, and he'd get it. Foreman relied on his accurate jab and slower pacing to score points wins for him during his second career, and I feel that Joe's head movement would make it difficult for George to land it with any consistency.

 

I like threads like this. Joe would murder the old Foreman. But there is still a chance Foreman could hurt Joe. Frazier would put himself right in front of George, so there is a chance of him getting nailed with thunderous, painful punches like before. But most likely, I think Joe would work the body and beat on George until he got the knockout.

 

actually a fascinating question. I think Foreman does it again just takes a round longer. The Tyson/Frazier style of fighter does not have much a chance with George.

 

Based on what? Foreman's two victories over Frazier? Frazier was just one fighter. Tyson and Frazier were not that similar in fighting style and repertoire. An older Foreman had trouble landing cleanly on and knocking out Dwight Qawi, all 5'6 of him. Sure, Foreman was old, but Qawi was way out of shape and on the downside as well. 1973 Frazier wins big against 1991 Foreman.

 

Fullas a 73 Frazier has too much movement for Old Foreman and too mush relentless attack giving Foreman no space to breath. In saying that any version of Foreman can knock nay fighter out in any era.

 

Tommy Morrison fought the blueprint fight against old George in 1991, attacking in circles, keeping George's feet moving without letting him get set, not standing and trading with George and countering off his own jab. I don't know if Morrison would have beaten the young George using those tactics because it's not like Tommy was quick on his feet. Aside from the fact that Young George covered a lot more ground and cut off the ring better when he was quicker, Morrison doesn't move his head as much and would be hit.

Frazier fought George Chuvalo in the late 60's practically in the same fashion as Morrison to Foreman. Frazier didn't stand and trade with the bigger man in Chuvalo, but circled, countered, stayed low and worked his hooks to the body. Chuvalo pressured Frazier and made Joe back up and counter, which he did fairly effectively using his jab and head movement. Against Foreman in 1973, Frazier stood right in front of him, trying to out-muscle the bigger man believing his experience would be too much for George which was wrong.

1973 Frazier still gets knocked down early by one of George's big punches because this is not the prime Frazier of 1968 - FOTC that we're talking about here. 1991 Foreman too slow to finish 1973 Frazier and probably gets stopped himself around 10 or Frazier wins a UD over 12 rounds.

 

The Foreman who went 12 TUFF rds with Holy in 1991 still SMOKES Frazier due to styles........ Nothing has changed..... Frazier is still Frazier....... Foreman at age 42 and 257 pounds still could jab, stalk and get to Frazier..... Frazier would go longer rds because Foreman was slower and more patient, but by rds 7 thru 10, Frazier would be beaten and all gased out..... Foreman by KO / TKO........


MR.BILL:bbbthumbsup

 

Uh no Mr. Bill, Frazier wouldn't be beaten and gassed out. I'd put my money on Foreman to empty his gas tank well before Frazier in this matchup.

I do agree with you though, such that Foreman is a dangerous and formidable opponent for Frazier at any time in their careers with the exception of the 1968 - FOTC Frazier. Very few will agree with me that the primer late 60's version of Frazier would have done much better against Foreman than the overweight, out-of-shape Joe that got whupped in 1973. I'd bet my money on this version of Frazier to survive Foreman's early power and quite possibly stop him later. Foreman is not destroying the pre-FOTC Joe Frazier inside two rounds. Foreman himself said before the 1973 title fight that Joe was "ready to be had," and later in Facing Ali believed the outcome would have been different if was the fighter squaring off against Frazier in the FOTC. There's no denying George's compliments to his opponents and other fighters, but I still believe too much emphasis is placed on what happened in 1973.

 

Let's not dwell too much over if it's going to be '73 Frazier or '71 Frazier too much... let's assume it's a prime Frazier vs. an early 90's and well prepared Foreman.

Foreman was in some ways was at his best in the very early 90's. He fought smarter, paced himself better, he was bigger, and actually stronger... this doesn't mean he punched harder though. His jab was awesome, his chin was one of the best ever, and his stamina was top notch.

Compared to how he was in the 70's... he was a little bit slower and his punches had a little less snap.

I know some of you don't believe that Foreman was stronger in the late 80's/early 90's but he really was considerably stronger. Like I stated earlier, this doesn't always translate to more punching power. Foreman still had awesome power but he definatley had a little less snap on his punches and they were delivered a little slower.

In my opinion it really should be a toss up over which Foreman was better.

Now, on with the fight.

I'll take Foreman by late round KO.

Frazier was never a fast starter so by the time he gets going Foreman has control of the fight. Foreman breaks Frazier down by controlling things and setting things up with his long heavy jab.

 

Look at Foreman's fights vs.

Dwight Qawi KO7: 1988- a year into his comeback, he would get better though... only Holyfield and Foreman have stopped Qawi... a prime M. Spinks had 15 rounds to do it and couldn't

Bert Cooper KO2: 1989- maybe not the best ever version of Cooper but Cooper had done much better vs. fighters like Nate Miller and Carl Williams. He had beat Henry Tillman W12, Tyrone Booze W12, and Willie DeWitt KO2. Shortly after Foreman he beat Orlin Norris and lost a close back and forth battle vs. Ray Mercer. He would go on to get stopped in 2 by Bowe and in 7 by Holyfield. Foreman beat Cooper as easily as anybody else ever did.

Gerry Cooney KO2: 1989- say what you will but most people felt Cooney would give Foreman a much tougher fight and at least test his chin, Foreman crushed him with ease

Adilson Rodrigues KO2: 1990- Rodrigues was a decent fighter who had beat Bonecrusher Smith and Quick Tillis but Foreman crushed him. His only other loss in recent years was to Holyfield LKOby2.

Evander Holyfield L12: 1991- this was Holyfield at his best, Foreman fought a very good fight but came up a little short... this version of Foreman beats plenty of good HWs.

Pierre Coetzer KO8: 1993- Foreman didn't look good in his close win over Alex Stewart ('92) but he put it all together in this fight. He looked as good if not better than Bowe did vs. Coetzer

Foreman looked very bad vs. Morrison (L12) in 1993 and even Moorer (KO10) in 1994. He was clearly past the peak of his 2nd career but managed to get the KO vs. Moorer and the HW World Title.

I think he took Alex Stewart lightly (who had been stopped by Holyfield, Tyson, and Moorer) and almost paid for it by getting a loss. He did knock Stewart down twice early in the fight but allowed Stewart to come back. After the Holyfield fight Foreman sometimes didn't train so hard. He was on TV a lot and very busy with many things outside of the ring.

Foreman looked fair at best vs. Schulz in 1995 and really should have lost a somewhat close decision. He was clearly slipping.

The fact that he couldn't put Crawford Grimsley away inside of 12 rounds in 1996 showed that Foreman was on his way out.

He looked good vs. a very determined Savarese in 1997 and earned the close win.

He looked good vs. Briggs in 1997 but was robbed of the decision. He never fought again.

 

One of Georges best punches could knock anyone out , were not talking about a jab, so no it's not funny.

 

After seeing Frazier get blasted out twice by Foreman, I'm finding it very difficult to not be biased against Frazier in a H2H sense here. Even though he's a favorite of mine (see the avatar and signature). He's just so aggressive and he'd end up right there going into punches again, even with the bobbing. He might outwork Foreman, but does he have enough to keep Foreman honest the entire fight? Would he be firing on that cross guard at the elbow all night? Could he outpoint him without taking punishing enough blows? It's a tough question.