sonny liston vs smokin joe.

I think Frazier always gets a bit undersold in this fight: ie because he got blasted out by Foreman, it gets taken as a given that any other big slugger would do the same. Foreman and Liston were punchers, but otherwise had different styles. Liston was shorter than Foreman, more methodical, tended to break guys down behind a jab, and needed room to get leverage on those punches. Frazier wouldn't give him that room and can slip under that long jab and grind him down. Besides that, Liston never beat a prime heavyweight in Frazier's class.

Obviously Frazier could walk into a huge punch and that might be that, but I give him a much better chance against Sonny than many here have done. My pick: Liston early or Frazier late.

 

I can buy that.

 

^ good analysis

 

Obviously Liston has a punchers chance but when did Liston beat a prime heavyweight as good as Frazier as simply as "shooting crabs in a barrel"?

I think Ali, Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena and Chuvalo were a better bunch over all than Patterson, machen, Folley and Harris.

Beating westphal, Roy Harris and Patterson might have been as simple to Sonny as "shooting crabs in a barrel" but Joe Frazier was something else. He wasn't no crab. Nor was he intimidated.