Frazier by UD. 5 inches and 80 years is a lot to overcome. And Frazier gets a bit underrated. He didn't have much power or chin, but he had some decent wins against only two (albeit brutal) losses against the two best HW's of the 80's. Plus Burns's opposition was horrendous. It really bothers me that he is in the top 5 all time, technically, for consecutive title defenses. Imagine if Vitali or Wlad fought a guy every week outside of the top 100. It wouldn't be tolerated by fans, but they could have had about 100 successful defenses.
I can't find fault with any of that.if burns were fighting these days he could probably make middle. Frazier was no smokin' Joe and got wiped out by Tyson and Holmes but he'd have too much for Burns.
I agree, Frazier does get a bit underrated. Tillis, Ribalta and Smith were all good wins. In the Smith fight he was also heavily knocked down and had his jaw broken but managed to survive and win a decision. Smith is a guy that many list as the hardest puncher they fought. Everett Martin said that he hit him the hardest, and Martin fought Bowe, Foreman and Wladimir Klitschko twice! Figure that.
Burns might be small by the standards of today, but he was still more than good enough to beat Marvis Frazier. He had a track record of overcoming a size disparity at world level, and Marvis Frazier was not all that good.
People are picking Marvis Frazier over a lineal heavyweight champion, and you say that he is underrated? The mind boggles!
Co-signed. I see this as a pretty easy victory for Marvis. Burns has so many physical disadvantages to overcome, and it's not like he's an ATG himself.
