Was Frazier past his prime in Kingston?

"Styles make fights." " Rock, paper, scissors." Choose your cliche. George was all wrong for him. Few fighters can conquer all styles.

 

Without question--even FOTC Frazier wouldn't be able to beat Foreman. It was the worst possible matchup for him--a swarmer who has to come forward and bore in continuously has no chance against Foreman's power and reach.

 

Swag made things good in post #27.

At any rate i don't think I'll be hiding his keys from him

 

Frazier wasn't past prime in Kingston, but he wasn't hungry for the sport anymore and took Foreman lightly, which is why he was out of shape and mostly partied in Kingston. Also, Some of the dismissive things Frazier was saying in the buildup really pissed Foreman off, which only made Foreman more motivated to crush Frazier on fight night. All that being said Futch from the beginning was against matching Foreman with Frazier, but Durham and Frazier overruled him.

Here is a piece with Futch talking about the Frazier-Foreman fight.

“Yank made the match. Yank brought me in because he realized he couldn’t do everything. I was 3,000 miles away [in Los Angeles]. Yank and I stayed together at the hotel in Kingston, we stayed in the same suite. I had it so that when I moved to Philadelphia to be with Joe, I would have had Yank work Joe in the gym a week before I’d come out."

"Foreman was at every one of our fights, Foreman had ringside seats. He was young, he was strong, big and aggressive. When I got down to Jamaica, I was disappointed. Yank came up to me after the first day and said what do you think? I said, ‘Yank, do you know what you’ve got here? You’ve got one big party. You’ve got all these big rollers coming in from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Miami and everywhere.’ They were all there. They all came down to Jamaica to take their vacations. The atmosphere was all wrong. If it were up to me, I’d have changed everything. Whatever it took, even it if meant we were to pack up and leave the hotel, that’s what I would have done. But it was too late and it was Yank’s decision."

“A few days before the fight, both camps were called to a press conference. It really wasn’t a press conference, but it was a gathering for the fight promotion. Both camps arrived at the same time and were walking up the steps when I saw something that I have never seen before or since. Joe started in on George Foreman verbally, telling him that he was a punk and who did he think he was to think he could take away his title. It was the only time I ever saw Joe Frazier attack someone in this way. George just glared at Joe. I’ve never seen more anger in a man’s eyes than I saw then from Foreman. When he came out in the first round, that anger exploded."

“I wasn’t surprised at what happened in the fight. Joe Frazier was half-prepared. When he was prepared, I could tell him what to do in the ring and he’d do it. George wouldn’t let him do anything."
https://sunnikhalid.journoportfolio.com/articles/interview-with-eddie-futch-8132001/

Here is a picture of Frazier and Durham about a week before the fight looking out of shape.
https://imgur.com/55xYV0e

 

Frazier's **** poor preparation , overconfidence , wear and tear from his take no
prisoner style, and FOTC, plus facing an opponent that was a stylistic nightmare
for his skill set in Foreman.
It Equaled the disaster that happened in Kingston Jamaica on Jan 22,1973.
In hindsight , that result was almost a certainty.......