Did Chuvalo/Frazier/Norton/Futch predict a winner for Ali-Foreman?

Frazier picked Ali on the night of the event itself

 

no frazier predicted foreman i.e. "the champion" at ringside when commentating with david frost and jim brown.

 

Norton said Ali could do it over 15; Frazier tipped George despite Ali's "new style- holding".

 

And Archie Moore specifically credited that holding behind the neck as the draining tactic which weakened Foreman to the point where he could be knocked out. (You already well know this, but it's good for newer and younger posters to understand that Moore admitted this on camera in a retrospective years after the event.) When Ken wasn't fighting Ali, he favoured Muhammad, at least in all the predictions I saw or read of Norton making. They seemed to root for each other, as Ali flagrantly displayed in Caracas. "Box him, Kenny, box!"

Yeah, during the broadcast immediately prior to the opening bell for Kinshasa, Frazier can be heard assenting to a prediction favouring "the Champion," a telling concession because you knew he had to be rooting for the one he already knew he could beat. Would Foreman-Frazier II have followed Kinshasa if George had repelled Muhammad's challenge? Off of Joe's masterful showing in Frazier-Quarry II, that might have been my guess.

 

I seem to recall Futch and Chuvalo both picking Foreman as well. Then again, almost everyone was and it was similar to the first Tyson/Holyfield fight if you weren't following the sport at the time. Some people picked the underdog, but certainly not many and most were looking for a brutal finish in a 1 sided bout.

 

I definitely recall Norton predicting an Ali win over 15.