Battle of the Joes, Louis vs Frazier?

Joe Gives Louis a tough fight but then a combination of Louis' jab and counterpunching stop Frazier late, I think.

Would be very competitive. Louis absolutely ****ed up most fighters who came to him though, so that's worth remembering.

 

Even though most have traditionally gone with Joe Louis in this ( often made ) fantasy fight, I hesitate to write it off as a given.. Joe Louis had a soft spot for getting tagged with the left hook, and Frazier owned one of the very best lefts in the division's history. His upper body movement, workrate and hand speed were off the charts for a heavy weight, and the man had a pretty good punch to boot. Louis might have chopped him up on the inside, with his lethal combos, but it's not something that I see happening early.. Frazier was only destroyed early by one man, and that guy had the power to lift him off the canvas as well as throwing the kind of awkward hooking-uppercuts that few fighters posses. It was a tailor made match and stylistic nightmare for Frazier, and I don't know if Louis had the right similarities to Foreman to duplicate it.. Louis once said himself that he did not like fighters who swarmed or crowded him, and Frazier was a man who proved to be a pain in the ass for the most illusive heavy weight of all time..This is a pick' em' fight in my opinion, but I can understand how some might pick either over the other..

 

It would be an even better fight than TTIM while it lasted.

 

I tend to favor Smoke in this one, because of that Louis dislike for crowding, and Frazier's activity in the area of upper body movement and work rate. Godoy was no picnic for the Bomber the first time around, and it took Louis seven rounds of relentless hammering to finally bring Arturo down in the rematch. Godoy had neither the punch evasion, work rate, hand speed, punching power, cut resistance, stamina or physical strength of Frazier. A strong argument can be made that the Chilean had the better chin and durability, and heart might be argued for as a toss-up, but Smoke was by far the greater talent.

The only version of Louis I'd want in there with Frazier would indeed be the Louis of Godoy II. I have a hard time envisioning the Louis of Godoy I taking the decision over Smoke.

 

and the winner is.... Calzaghe!

 

I tend to agree with this, although I used to go with the consensus pick of Louis as well.

 

I agree with Duo. And Godoy seems to be a good boxer to compare Frazier to. Ali had an all time great chin, and i think concensus might be that its a better chin than louis. In that case, i can't see Louis eating too many left hooks. Louis has great timing, but it's not the easiest tthing to time smokes movement. It's a great matchup with possible fireworks in each round. I like Frazier but both men would probably see the canvas numerous times in this fight.

 

This is a very hard fight to pick...I think Louis early, but if it would go past seven, Frazier's chances go up.

 

No worries..your harping is generally better than many posts outright. Louis' trouble with Godoy is very relevant to a fight with Frazier, I'll agree...and add to it that Frazier was much more offensively effective. but Louis literally destroyed Godoy in the rematch with uppercuts though. would it be safe to say Frazier might take the first go?....Then Louis taking the rematch?

 

That is exactly the thing that makes me hedge about picking a winner in this one...the stylistic advantages/disadvantages work both ways. If a gun were pointed to my head...a prime Joe Frazier just might pull it off...but I feel alot safer with adding the caveat of it getting past round seven.

 

You well know I've said this before ad nauseum, but others here may need to be reminded of my past protests that Smoke wasn't always as slow a starter as stereotyped. Zyglewicz, Daniels and Ramos should be compulsory viewing for anybody who has this notion engraved in their heads. Saying Frazier was seldom at his best in the first round is not the same as labeling him a slow starter in the Bobick mold. In point of fact, Smoke was a much faster starter than Norton, but the one time Ken charged out the gate, it was in his super high profile starching of Duane. I fully expect that Frazier would be mindful of how quickly Louis could start, and prepare accordingly. Jerry Quarry unloaded nearly 100 punches on Frazier during that opening round in 1969, but Smoke fired back with 64 of his own. (Not an especially bright idea on Jerry's part to try catching Smoke cold, as Ziggy had been Frazier's previous victim.)