Frazier should rank two or three alltime

I have him 8 or 9. Ali was his one great win. And what a win it is, but I cant consistently criticize thin resumes of other great heavyweights(Like Dempsey or Tyson) and call Fraziers different. He had the great win they lack, so he ranks highly, but he also has a few bad losses to Foreman, and he was decisively proven 2nd best to Muhammad Ali. He should be in top 10, but in the lower reaches of it for his pitiful title reign and by virtue of going 1-4 in his five fights with greats.

 

I too have him in the 8-11 range. I think against Ali it was more of a style contract then anything else. And the Foreman losses were decisive.

That said I give him credit for the fights he won in the era he fought in, but I personally don't think it translates that well into different eras.

 

Some people act like the Ali win is the only decent win he has but that's not the case. Frazier has wins over Quarry twice, Bonavena twice, Chuvalo, and Ellis twice. His win over Ali is clearly his best but he put up a good effort in the second fight and a great effort in the third. Frazier may be around 5-8 when talking about ATG heavyweights but I never take rankings that seriously anyways as they're too subjective.

 

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Johnson
4. Holmes
5. Holyfield
6. Foreman
7. Dempsey
8. Marciano
9. Tyson
10. Frazier
11. Liston
12. Lewis

 

Unfortunately Smokin Joe fought in the greatest era of boxing. At a heavyweight he should be ranked in the top 5, or no later than the top 7. If not for Ali and Foreman he would of went undefeated.