After spending some time reflecting on what I saw last night (and recovering, admittedly), I realized that there were lots of similarities to the first Ali/Frazier fight. Ali and Frazier fought a close couple of rounds before the taller Ali began outboxing Frazier and seemingly clowning him, looking very much like the superior fighter. Joe then found additonal reserve and started turning the tide, finally hurting and staggering Ali all over the ring in round 11, just like Usyk did to Fury in round 9. Fury never fully recovers, but fought gamely to the finish, similar to Ali, who took a KD in the last round. The smaller fighter correctly wins the decision, having possibly taken more damage in the process. Not exactly the same, but Fury/Usyk delivered on drama and had all the ebbs and flows of a classic fight. What a great night for boxing. I only wish they younger and we could get a proper trilogy.
There are similarities, but as skilled as Fury and Usyk are, they cannot compare to the skill and technique of Prime Frazier and Close-to-Prime Ali. That said, it was an absolute classic and Ali Frazier 1 set the bar extremely high, so it's not exactly a knock on Fury or Usyk to say it didn't quite reach the level of Ali Frazier 1, but it definitely was in that ball park.
The fight lived up to the hype and if there is a rematch it could very well go to Fury but I’d place Usyk the favourite however Ali came back to silence the doubters let’s see if Fury can
Frazier literally just had one punch and Ali never threw a body punch in his entire career. No need to glorify the past.
Fair point, yes both Fury and Usyk worked the body, something Ali didn't do. But when I describe technique, I would be referring to the level of footwork from Ali, compared to the footwork of Fury for example. Ali danced, and had far better and smoother lateral movement than Fury could dream of. The technique of throwing a jab, Ali's movements and jab was far more fluid. Also the defense on display, Fury was far easier to hit than Ali was that night, he was not as quick on his feet as Ali, he did not move around the ring at the same speed or with the kind of fluidity Ali did. I agree that Fury and Usyk have more facets to their game, you could certainly say that Frazier was a one trick pony, with the hook, that the just threw the same punch over and over again. But even then Frazier had a very effective defense, dipping his head down as he was winding up his hooks. He was not upright all night and an easier target like both Fury and Usyk were. I think what I'm referring to was that Frazier was in his prime that night, much younger that night than either Fury or Usyk. Most would agree that Fury is well past his prime. I don't think it's glorifying the past to say that the Ali Frazier 1 was a far more engaging and dramatic than Fury vs Usyk. It was 15 rounds, Ali was actually knocked down clean, but popped right back up, vs Fury stumbling around like a drunken sailor but refusing to go down. Fury vs Usyk was far sloppier than Ali Frazier 1. The footwork from Ali was far superior to the footwork in Fury Usyk. The way punchers were thrown were crisper and of a higher quality from both Frazier and Ali. That isn't a knock on Fury vs Usyk but it is, in my view at least, but an accurate characterization of the two matches.
