Ali-Frazier II: What would have happened with a different ref?

Actual Scores: 7-4-1, 7-5, 6-5-1.

Frazier probably gets a round or two more.

Best guess.....a draw.

 

The scores were 6-5, 7-4, 8-4,
Perez was the most generous.

Different referee no change, better bell Ali , maybe stops Frazier in the second round.

"Ali landed a straight right to Frazier's jaw late in the second round. Wobbling slightly, Frazier retreated to the ropes, but the referee leaped between them.
"Somebody called 'bell,' so I stopped them both," Perez explained later. "Then the gong table yelled, 'Tony, the round isn't over.' Usually I hear the bell, but the bell was defective before the fight. They had to call the electrician to fix it. It was only five to eight seconds."
Afforded a moment's rest, Frazier easily finished the round, which ended 10 seconds later"

 

Frazier was a shadow of the man he was in the first fight, but it was still close. It might have helped Joe if Perez had done more about Ali's holding, but I think the real problem was Frazier couldn't apply pressure as quickly or effectively in the second fight.

 

In a nutshell :good


Muhammad would have won anyway,I think. Even if his excessive clinching had been lessened. Also taking into account Perez random bout of tinnitus in the second - Ali may not have actually stopped Frazier then but he could have scored a knockdown which would have given him a two point round.

I consistently score that one 7-4-1 to Muhammad.

 

Part of this was in an effort to make Joe less hittable Eddie Futch changed Joe's stance closer to textbook from his normal squared off approach, it slowed Frazier and in close he had to adjust his feet before he could let his hands go. Similarly Gil Clancey after the Ali defeat brought George Foreman's feet closer together to make his hooks shorter and totally messed his natural gate up as seen in the Jimmy Young bout. Both Joe and George went back to their natural stance's after this.

 

Ali was not stopping Frazier in round two. Joe was hurt but it was not early in the round and he was making Ali miss his follow up shots.

Ali with a different ref finds another way to win.

 

"maybe stops Frazier in the second round."





Thanks for the laugh, bud.

 

I didn't realize that. I knew about the Clancy re-jig with Foreman, but not Futch's tinkering with Joe.

I suppose Futch had a right to be concerned about the amount of punches Joe took in the first fight, but to change his stance seems a bit extreme.

Funnily enough, I have a book on how to box, written by Frazier in which he says not to stand too side on; I wonder if he was talking from experience?