Joe Frazier - Underrated or Overrated ?

Hard to say really, back in the day some overrated him some don't, but noe I usually see people rank him #9 to #12 which is ok really...
Here are the opponents he beat and I'll let you guys determine where should he be rated.

Wins:
- Muhammad Ali
- Jimmy Ellis 2x
- George Chuvalo
- Oscar Bonavena 2x
- Jerry Quarry 2x
- Buster Mathis
- Manuel Ramos
- Doug Jones
- Eddie Machen (Post Prime)
- Bob Foster
- Ron Stander
- Joe Bugner

 

I would say he's rated fairly.

 

Underrated or rated just right depending on the circle.

 

I’d say he’s underrated on this forum at least.

 

Rated fairly, but like most boxers ever, get a little overrated on some threads, and a little underrated on others.

 

I have him around No 12 ,so most would say I underate him I guess.

 

I’d say underrated. Should be a top 5 lock and he’s probably in less more top 5s than he’s in.

 

I think he's underrated, I think it's mainly because of his losses to Foreman which was a style nightmare for Joe. But matched against anyone not named Foreman or Liston I'd give Joe a chance to win a whole lotta fights.

 

Think he’s rated just right normally.

 

He would never be able to walk through Tyson, if he gets him past 6 or so which is doubtful he has a good shot. Mike will be on him from the opening bell and I think he takes Joe in 2-3 rounds.
On the other hand I think Joe is slightly underrated all time, def a top ten but not a top 5 IMO. Heś one of my favorites and only lost to two fighters and beat a lot of solid guys.

 

Underrated. Extremely.
It wasn't about his hook or work ethic.
It was about his mentality of your going to have to basically do one of two things in order to stop me from coming: knock me completely out or kill me.

You can see the relentless in his style. You don't see that nowadays. And people overlook that.

 

I don't like when someone says he fought someone 2X. And then, to fill in the gaps, includes names like Ron Stander or Manuel Ramos.

Each time Frazier fought someone twice, they were two different fights, two separate wins, two separate years, two separate opportunities to lose.

List them all out. It's more impressive because it was a very impressive run.

1. Muhammad Ali (1971) Winner: "Fight of the Year"
2. Jerry Quarry (1969) Winner: "Fight of the Year"
3. Jimmy Ellis (1970)
4. Oscar Bonavena (1968)
5. Jerry Quarry (1974)
6. George Chuvalo (1967)
7. Oscar Bonavena (1966)
8. Joe Bugner (1973)
9. Jimmy Ellis (1975)
10. Eddie Machen (1966)

11. Bob Foster (1970)
12. Doug Jones (1967)
13. Buster Mathis (1968)

I'm glad ESPN+ has now included the first fight with Ali in their classic on-demand boxing section. Forever, you could watch Ali outbox Frazier in the rematch. It played seemingly every month for 40 years on ESPN SuperBouts. Repeated airings on a loop for decades had to have made an impact on how Frazier was viewed.

It seems like, over the years, Joe's reputation has been gradually chipped away because networks like ESPN tended to broadcast hundreds if not thousands of times replays of his losses. (And he only lost to two guys.)

I mean, if they'd showed Frazier beating Ali for 40 years (like they did with Ali), and left out Ali's wins over Frazier, I'm sure Joe would be viewed differently.

His performance in fight one was incredible.

 

Definitely overrated