Did Ali's trash talk backfire against Frazier in fight 1?

The talking was a factor in making the fight that bit bigger.

Hindsight shows Ali losing helped make him as popular as he was, it was arguably the most important thing that happened to him in boxing.

 

I think Ali's trash talking inadvertently worked but didn't help him much either. Joe was in top physical shape that night. He wanted to kill Ali with every left hook he threw. Joe might have done more damage to Ali earlier in the fight had he concentrated on killing the body more whie adding his right hand to the attack. Joe wanted to prove that he was just as good a fighter as Ali if not better which is probably why he did his share of clowning and taunting that night. His emotions were running high for all the BS stuff that Ali said prior to the fight.

 

No, the OBVIOUS thing was that Muhammad Ali was clearly the best fighter he ever faced, and Muhammad Ali was still considered the true champion by the average man on the street in most of the world.

It would seem obvious (to me anyway) that was enough to maximize Frazier's motivation.
We're talking about a great fighter in the peak of his career, hungry for universal recognition.

 

YES - Ali's trashtalking made Smoke willing to die And wanting to literally KILL him in teh ring!:smoke

It backfired, But it gave us teh greatest heavyweight war in history, bar none.:rasta

 

Personally, it is clear to me Frazier was no 'Uncle Tom', but if you were Ali coming back from what he had just been through; you saw another black have everything you used to have, but had not beaten you to do it, I can understand his bitterness and frustration.

 

What about Dave Zyglewicz?

 

:rofl:rofl

 

Fair and valid point, :good ...... but the Frazier-Zyglewicz go was fixed, and Joe knew Dave had agreed to go in the tank for him.
Yank Durham would never have let Joe near him if it had been otherwise.
Every ranked heavyweight avoided "Ziggy", look at his record it proves it.

 

Love the 'ZIGGY'

Was from upstate New York, but moved to Texas.

Smokin Joe was worried about the big left hook that 'ZIGGY' had,
called the 'Texas Cork-Screw'.

 

Hey really...this is no joke...Ziggy had Joe Frazier worried.......

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Frazier had a style that was always going to bother Ali. If you watch his first bout with Patterson, Patterson is able to get to Ali at times.

 

Smokey Joe is imo closer to George "teh chin" Chuvalo stylewise, than lil Floyd.