He had been a pro for five years and only 18? months as an amateur the fight's aren't as relevant as the rounds he fought IMO he was a fast tracked fighter who knocked down a bunch of guys who shouldn't have been in the ring with him. Maybe our definitions of "Green" are different but he didn't have enough rounds to be fighting Muhmmad Ali... for his wallet it was genius but if he wanted to be a long standing champion, or be able to beat Ali I think (As a know nothing) he should've been tested earlier and climbed the ladder slower, he was lacking a lot of depth to his fighting. Norton and Frazier were very favourable match ups for what he had, when he got in the ring with Ali his impatient, tense style, lack of infighting and adaptability were very apparent he wasn't ever going to win with the education he got, it was very one sided and not competitive he knew how to fight one way, Ali let him and he lost believing he was winning. I know you'll probably call me a liar but I really would've bet the house on Ali If I was around in the 70s and had seen all there fights lol. It's just my opinion, Toney was drained, looked like he was sleep walking, RJJ was a great though of course.... anyway everybody knew he had weight issues, I accept the excuse you don't have to. I think watching it you can see, so to me it's not a "great" win just one of those things in boxing. it happens plenty, If it's James fault or not it doesn't make the win better he still didn't beat a good version of Toney, lack of discipline and timing just caught up to JT and RJJ got to reap it.
Hi Buddy. As with a lot of fights, hindsight is a wonderful thing, I lived through the late 60s early 70s as a ardent boxing fan ( less so now ) and believe me when I say Foreman was looked at as a monster, not so much before the Frazier fight, but definitely after, reason being that Joe was already seen as an ATG, the defeat of Ali only increasing his stature, so after the demolition of him, then Norton, who was viewed as a very competent HW, Foreman's aura of destruction only increased, you would have to have been there to appreciate how feared ( not by Ali ) big George was, and very few, pundits, picked Ali to win, very few, in fact there was genuine fear for his all round safety, I kid you not, I watched the fight in a cinema at 4am in the morning, and after 3 rounds we were all thinking that Ali would be stopped or KOd very soon. stay safe buddy, chat soon.