Inspired by Crosstrainer's best heavy 1976/77 thread. Here goes - 1970 Joe Frazier Muhammad Ali * 1971 Joe Frazier 1972 Muhammad Ali 1973 George Foreman 1974 Muhammad Ali 1975 Muhammad Ali 1976 George Foreman 1977 Ken Norton 1978 Larry Holmes 1979 Larry Holmes * I split honours between the two as I could n't split them for that year. Thoughts?
Frazier was the best in 70 and 71, I think. Norton was never the best fighter, IMO. He lost to Foreman, lost the series to Ali (or at least never established dominance over Ali, even if you believe he was robbed), and barely scraped by Young. 1976 and 1977 were almost an interregnum.
I agree Norton lost the series to Ali. I never thought he was robbed in the third fight as many say. He gave away the last round (by his own admission) and by extension the fight.
I found it hard splitting Ali and Frazier in '70 because even though Joe became unified champ that year,Muhammad beat Quarry and Bonavena after three and a half years out.
I had Norton winning the 3rd fight 8-7, but I could watch it 10 times and have a different score everytime. The only fights that weren't debatable were the first two fights, Norton clearly won 1st fight 8-4 or 7-5, and Ali clearly won 7-5 in the rematch. 2nd fight was the best fight in the trilogy, Ali was in shape and put on a very good boxing display. And Norton made it exciting in the closing rounds trying to make up the deficit in the early going.
Fair enough. My own view is that Frazier was the best fighter in the world in '70, since he'd proved it by winning the title over a pile of broken bodies, *and* would go on to beat the only other claimant the next year. If Frazier and Ali had met in '70, it would've looked like the FOTC. Except with a rustier Ali. So Frazier gets my vote.
Ali-Norton II is also my fave one of the trilogy,and it's one of the best heavyweight fights of the 1970s in my opinion.
Looks right to me, Stevie. When you break it down, 5 men took it in turn to rule the world. What a great era.
1970 Muhammad Ali 1971 Joe Frazier 1972 Muhammad Ali 1973 George Foreman 1974 Muhammad Ali 1975 Muhammad Ali 1976 George Foreman 1977* Ken Norton / Jimmy Young 1978 Larry Holmes 1979 Larry Holmes *If you consider the status quo of beginning 77 i say Norton. Because imho he won the trillogy with Ali. At least 2 wins 1 draw. But i'm kinda biased in this way. Otherwise i see Young at top. He beat the most a level contenders in 76/77. For me he beat Norton kinda clearly and maybe draw with Ali. Definatelly kinda gap year because Ali and Foreman retired.
