The last knockdown of round 1 of Foreman Frazier was chilling, Joe's hands dropped to his side and he was literally unconscious , then when he touched the canvas the light came on and he got up. That was incredible.
Totally agree about the refereeing, and you're right about his corner. They were quite as a mouse when they should have rescued him
Definitely took guts getting in the ring with Liston not once but twice in spite of the fact he was scared. He loses points for bringing that disguise tho.
Slightly off topic but anyone think Arthur Mercante should left Kingston in handcuffs after letting Joe take that unnecessary punishment?
I recall a group of reporters and boxing writers ,4 or 5, were asked who was going to win Foreman or Frazier, all said Frazier by KO inside 10 except 1,,,Howard Cosell said" I think George Foreman might literally kill Joe Frazier". Might be the greatest prediction of all time
No, because even though Joe battered Ron Stander, he was getting tagged quite a bit. I had seen George fight George Chuvalo, he had the style to defeat a spent Joe Frazier. I was watching The Doris Day Show when they flashed it across the screen about George Foreman's victory. I collected my $20.00 the next day, but I felt sorry for Joe, whom I admired and respected too.
Oh come on William. Patterson turned his back to Ingo. When you do that it's fair game, especially in the heat of battle. Do you think the same about Joe Louis hitting Schmeling in the kidney/back when Max turned his back to Joe? As I understand it, Max suffered a fracture somewhere in his spine. Hard to fault Ingo in my opinion. It's a rough game. "Protect yourself at all times."
I agree, Floyd was at fault, but it just wasn't impressive. What could Johansson say? "I knocked a guy out by rushing him and pounding him from the back of the head." Patterson may have been quitting when he turned away 4 all we knew. Remember when SRL hit Duran as he was turning away 2 quit in No Mas? only he didn't knock Duran out. Punching someone from the side or behind is dishonorable in pro boxing or in other instances. Any way u slice it, it's cowardly. Again, I'm not defending Floyd. But I'm not defending Ingo either. Mostly cuz Ingo HAD the time 2 realize what was happening and could have refrained. Not like when Berbick injured Tate, and then KO'd him w/ a punch on the back of the neck. It started out as a frontal assault, and Tate started falling away. Berbick was excited and in the moment and it may not have occurred 2 him in time. Those kinds of things happen in boxing all the time. Johansson had time though.
Take a look on You Tube, the Hugo Corro vs Vito Antuofermo World Middleweight Title bout from June 20 1979 from Monte Carlo, Monaco. Corro kept turning his back on Vito, kept getting hit in the back, it is fair game. The referee always tells both fighters at ring center to protect yourselves at all times. Floyd should have listened to the referee too in 1959.
I really don't get this. I do get that a fighter should protect himself at all times. But let's be hypothetical @KasimirKid and @Richard M Murrieta, if u got in a fight w/ me and knocked me down, would u then proceed 2 hit me again while I was getting up and was turned away from u? Of course not. I feel that any fighter that has 2 resort 2 that kind of tactic is only showing that he lacks confidence in himself and can only win through means like this.
I would not hit you on the while you were on the ground my friend like Wilfredo Gomez did to Carlos Zarate in 1978. But if you turn your back and I have a punch on the way, you should have not turned your back in thr first place.
True, but Ingo didn't have a punch on the way. He was quite a bit aways from Floyd and could have stopped himself. Ingo was an accurate puncher and had Floyd on ***** street. He could have stopped Floyd just the same if he just waited on Floyd 2 be able 2 face him. Remember, since Floyd didn't know where he was, he probably didn't consciously turn away from Ingo, disregarding the rules.
I don't attribute "fault" to either fighter. Floyd at that instant was too hurt to be able to know what he was doing or even be capable to think of quitting. I also think you have an overly romanticized view of boxing. The word "cowardly" as applied to Ingo is inappropriate here, IMO. When you have a fighter hurt, it is wise to go after him. He may recover, and you may never get another chance. When you're fighting for something as valuable as the heavyweight championship, your focus in the heat of the battle isn't to step back and fight "honorably." It's to finish the job and win. Sitting in the comfort of an armchair 61 years after the event and saying Ingo should have been disqualified when no one at the time hardly raised an eyebrow is misguided, IMO. Your may choose to quibble with the referee who chose not to stop the fight at that juncture. I myself don't fault him because Floyd did show signs of fighting back after some of the knockdowns. That's why they usually don't stop a fight after one knockdown. The fighter may and often does recover enough to continue. I remember reading somewhere that Floyd himself said that his head was clearing after the last few knockdowns, and he was in better shape after the seventh knockdown than after the first and that he could have continued. Goldstein was in his rights to give Floyd a chance to recover given that he was the champion defending his title. He also would have been within his rights to stop the fight earlier. He had that discretion. It is not at all like the case of the third Griffith-Paret fight where he failed to act when Paret was trapped on the ropes in the corner and being pummeled to death.
