Frazier only beat Ali because Ali didn't have enough.....

I disagree with the bolded part. Everything else we are cool on.

 

Perfectly set up.

The fact is, and will always remain, no matter how revisionist try to spin it, that while Ali won 2 of 3, Frazier won the most important of their 3 fights.

 

You shut the **** up.

He wasn't prime, YOU GET OVER IT.. AND DON'T BRING IT UP IF YOU WANT PEOPLE TO GET OVER IT!

 

Ali put on a bigger beatdown on Frazier in third fight though.

 

Even Ali admitted he got whooped... lol

 

That wasn't prime Ali you idiot.

he was off 3-1/2 years and it was evident against Quarry and Bonevena he wasn't the same fighter anymore.

 

None of you clowns will ever agree because you can't go back and do the "what would have happened if..." **** and you never will. We'll never know how good Ali would have been if he hadn't lost those years of fighting or how much of his weight gain was due to inactivity and how much was due to him filling out. We have no idea if he'd have stayed as fast and evasive if not for that layoff, all we know is he got hit a lot more later in his career than earlier. None of you will ever ****ing know any of this conclusively, which I suspect is how you like it because you don't want to be RIGHT, you want to FLAME, which is all you're doing now. So shut the **** up. Or, better yet, build a time machine, no back and change history, tell us what happened THEN shut the **** up.

 

:good

 

Exactly. It's ALL speculation. But then, that's what some of the most intriguing sports debates are based on, aren't they.:huh

 

People "remeber" that fight because it has a catchy name.

The first fight had 2 undefeated fighters who both had a totally legit claim to being THE world champion, it was clearly the most historically significant to the boxing world.

 

Claiming Ali was no longer prime when he came back in 70 isnt the same as saying he was shot. He was far from it. But A 67' Ali doesnt lay on the ropes and take shots. Howard Cosell mentioned it over and over again in the Bonevena fight that this was not the same Ali.
Why is it so hard to fathom a heavier 29 year old Ali might no longer be in his prime?
Matthew Saad Mohammad was a splendid fighter but was a washed-up punching bag by the time he was 29.

Just because Ali did great things later in his career isnt so much because he was still in his prime (how are you ****ing defining "prime"?), it was simply a testament to his heart, will, and courage...some of the ingredients that make a 'great' fighter.