[YT]vkGqmjTAf4g&feature=channel_page[/YT] It shouldn'e be forgotten what a good fighter Machen was. He beat Quarry right before he was matched with Joe, beat Bill McMurray, Bert Whitehurst, Doug Jones, Mike DeJohn, Brian London, fought draws with Folley and Williams. He's past his best here, but Frazier handles him. He doesn't seem to be the finished article in terms of stamina or punch variety yet though. He seems to gas a little looking for the finish and all his punches are short - not in a good way, he hasn't learned to wing in those very fast wider punches yet, maybe hasn't realised his own handspeed and the affect it can have on an opponents defence. What are your thoughs/observations on these two guys?
I think it's interesting that Frazier seemed to have slowed considerably himself in the 9:th. He probably wasn't very used to longer distances yet.
it wasnt as brutal as that ortiz 1 you showed before. i didnt know that was joes 12th fight makes the victory really impressive.
Yeah, I think there is no 200lb man in the world as good as Machen is today. For Frazier, weighing around the same, to take this guy out in his 12th fight, all be it a past-best version, is a pretty special result. And he made it look easy in the end.
This was an excellant peice of matchmaking for the Frazier Camp, Eddie was a name, had a top class pedigree, and had just outslicked a young unexperianced prospect by the name of Jerry Quarry, and yet trooth to tell Eddie had seen better days, and the exact type of opponent that would expose this would be a 3mins a round aggressor, someone who would make veteran Eddie work at a pace that he would find uncomforable, and so it proved, Eddie had to forgoen any thought of winning, and concentrate of surviving against this young Pressure Hooker named Frazier, it is a tribute to Eddie that he could call on his experiance a come back from the first round Knockdown to actaully compete with Joe for some of the rounds, as i recall Crafty Fox Eddie, i think in the 8th pretended to be hurt, and Nail an over-eager Frazier coming in, but this Ambush was Eddies last throw of the dice at actually trying to salvage a win in this fight, the rest was highly honourable stubbon resistence Eddie had two more fights and lost them both against Henry Clark and Boone Kirkman, At his Best, and when not shackled with Mental Demons, Eddie was a Fine Contender indeed, if Active in Recent Years, at his Peak, he might of made one hell of a Cruiserweight. Of Course Joe at this stage was Improving all the time and was in his acendancy, Joe would go on to Chew them up and Spit them Out in and ultimately establish himself a legendary status, but at this stage of his Career he still had to be matched carefully for awhile, he nearly tripped up against bonavena, and would get a tought struggle from him again atthis stage there was not need to put him in with a Terrell or Patterson or Old Liston, Joes time was Coming Fast, it was a journey that did not have to be rushed, but could be enjoyed, On this night Neither Eddie or Joe were at their Best, and both were going in different directions, but it was a good Match timed Well, and produced a good fight.
Joe is truly a pleasure to watch...You can tell hes coming to fight as soon as he walks away from his corner. Yeah, he did progress fast, which is a good thing with his style and work.
Area 53 - Good post. But I think what makes the result special is the stoppage. People just didn't tend to stop Machen, never mind a relative novice.
