The Foreman uppercut that lifted Frazier.

its the same delayed reaction in the second Ali fight. Ali lands a right hand and Frazier does that same little jump/hop before backing up. Its why i believe Ali had him in big trouble before the round was stopped early

 

Happens a lot here doesn't it?

From what I recall, Frazier took a clubbing shot from Foreman and as his body reeled Joe sort of jumped in an effort to keep his feet underneath him and then fell to a knee.

 

Glad this was brought up. Frazier was not lifted in the air by that punch.
I'm surprised sportswriters and the like say Frazier was. Frazier was tilting to his right and about to go down. Joe's reflex to keep his footing probably caused the slight jump.

 

Ditto gladness and surprise. I've read and heard stuff like Frazier's 15-round left hook at FOTC was the last punch of the fight, Wepner fired a vicious shot to Ali's ribs (or was it his heart?), and other distorsions.

Personally, I think the hop was actually a subconscious desire only in part translated into the physical and manifested in a weird movement. Part of Joe simply wanted to run away from an excruciating punishment.

 

Foreman's punch didn't lift Frazier in the air. That fallacy has been repeated and harped on countless times in books and magazines by writers trying to lift Foreman's punching power into mythical proportions. Frazier hopped and bounced, partly because he was off-balance and trying to maintain his footing, and partly because of the force of Foreman's punch.

 

You posted this in the lounge as well. :nut
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3449967#post3449967
Here are my thoughts BTW


"The last punch was a right hook/uppercut. When the punch landed Frazier instinctively tried to widen his stance to keep his body balanced.This together with the diagonal force of the punch resulted in his feet leaving the canvas.

If he hadn't have suddenly widened his feet placement ,after the punch landed ,he would landed on the canvas on his right side."

 

Agree with this post. This was a monster shot from Foreman that could have affected Frazier a split second later, like the first knockdown in round 10 of the FOTC that was called a slip against Ali. Frazier indeed looked like he was trying to find his footing after getting hit and fell to his right. Notice that after every knock down, he tried to get up immediately and go back to work, instead of taking a few seconds extra in the count to clear his head.

I don't care what anyone says regarding what happened in this fight. Foreman fought the textbook fight in order to beat the Frazier in front of him. He didn't beat the best conditioned Frazier though.

This version of Frazier that showed up to fight Foreman in Jamaica was nowhere near pre-FOTC condition, so to say that Foreman beat a prime Frazier or the same Frazier that Ali fought in 1971 is wrong.

Pre-FOTC to 1971 Frazier would be a much more difficult target for George to hit cleanly, and he would have faced a significantly quicker, faster-paced Frazier with a deadlier body attack that he showed in this fight. Even though George got considerable help from Arthur Mercante, who allowed him to illegally push, shove, hold and hit, and grab Frazier by the shoulders, it wouldn't have mattered against prime Frazier. Foreman would tire by round seven, and IF prime Frazier is still there which is not beyond reason, I'd say he takes George out before the bell sounds for the 10th.

I'll agree with McVey, Mendoza, Senya, ChrisPontius and the majority on this forum who conclude that Foreman is a bad matchup for Frazier. I won't agree with those who conclude that Foreman would destroy any version of Frazier in 2 rounds like he did in Jamaica.

As for Sonny Liston, he doesn't have that much of a height advantage over Frazier, and Floyd Patterson is no Frazier. As for Lennox Lewis, he could probably keep prime Frazier on the outside for a few rounds before Joe's pace and body attack get the better of him. I see Lennox backing up and jabbing against Frazier, respecting his power only to get caught with body shots in the middle rounds.

 

Frazier never beats Liston.

 

Shake, that depends on many things. The shape of the fighters and when. Remember, George fought a perfect fight against Frazier.
Foreman pushed and kept swinging, giving Frazier no time to get smokin'.

 

Yeah Foreman destory Frazier, and look like Superman in the process.

But that punch did not lifted Frazier off the mat.
Frazier got hit, than a movement later, jump, hop up and down. As said before, delay reaction. Like Marciano Layne, but with out the ten count in that regard.

Kinda of hard to pic even a prime Frazier beating that Foreman. But hey, any one with 2 hands could in theory win. Maybe FOTC Frazier could land that left hook early to change the tide or something. who knows for sure. But its hard to pic it is all.

 

Frazier was made to order for that pile-driver uppercut and would have always been nearly decapitated by it.

 

Foreman would've always destroyed Frazier. Just a bad style match-up. Even though he was all ready on the decline when he fought Foreman the first time, he would still lose if he were in his prime.

Yes, he was on the decline at 29 but not "shot". He had all ready been through a few tough wars in his career. Ali on the other hand, had not had as punishing career up to that point.

 

The 29 or whatever really had nothing to do with it. He just was not fired up when he fought Foreman like he was with Ali.

 

I don't think Frazier hopped.Frazier merely widened his stance lowering his centre of gravity to keep himself from falling horizontally to his right,from Foreman's right hook/uppercut.Here the right hook would be the horizontal component of the punch.

The combination of him trying to stay upright and the vertical component of Foreman's punch(ie the uppercut)meant his neck got stretched upwards taking the rest of his body with him, with his feet leaving the canvas. Kind of like a body of a criminal who is dropped from a certain height jerking upwards at the bottom of a drop.

If Frazier hadn't widened his feet he would have been blasted to the ring surface with the right side of his body hitting the canvas first.

Simple.