Weakest puncher who could KO Frazier?

The fact that Frazier climbed off the canvas after the 6th knockdown from Foreman after being lifted off his feet, and was never KO'd in his entire career, suggests to me that it is extremely unlikely that he would get KO'd by anyone other than possibly Louis or Tyson.

TKOs. Hmmmm, there are a few chances, but I would tend to pick Frazier over most of the ATG HWs. For me, he was almost indestructable...

 

I hear you,

but I'm picking the '71 Frazier that beat Ali in the FOTC. I dont think Bonavena or Quarry would have gone so well against him. That was Frazier at his most motivated. Having said that, there might be others who would pick a 68 or 69 Frazier over the 71 version?

 

There's not a lot of fighters that could stop Frazier, he was so determined. It would take a huge puncher that comes out real fast early. George Foreman who stopped Frazier, and Mike Tyson are the only ones who I would give chances to score a KO on him. Joe Louis might be able to late in the fight.

 

Ali. I hate to be a smart ass, but Frazier only lost to two fighters.

Ali is a weaker puncher than George.

 

Ali's win was technically a TKO, but it adds to his ko's nonetheless.

 

Well, I'll assume the original question isn't who beats whom, but the weakest puncher who could actually KO Joe. Tyson obviously doesn't even enter into the equation.

Since Sugar Ray Robinson said it's the ones you don't see coming that get you, not the hardest, Ali had as good a shot as anyone and he couldn't do it. Ali was never a hard puncher but between cumulative blows and blistering speed, he had a high kayo rate. Still, he couldn't floor Frazier.

Doc actually had a good point with that quip about Slapsy Maxie. Quick punches outta left field don't hafta have much mustard on 'em. A lot of Prince Naseem Hamed's knockouts resulted from his wild (unorthodox doesn't begin to describe it) punching angles and sizzling reflexes.

Weakest puncher with talent who could KO Frazier? Evander Holyfield, on one of his good nights. Evander has always been a hot/cold fighter, but when he's hot he's as good as they get. But even at cruiserweight he wasn't a big puncher. But I think Holyfield would have the style to knock out Joe, just as he did with Tyson, just as he did in the rematch with Qawi (who was more like Joe Frazier than Tyson, with a harder skull than either). A prime Holyfield on a good night had brilliant reflexes and whistling combos that made up for mediocre punching power.

 

Ocsar Bonavena nearly knocked Frazier out, so I would say a puncher on his level could do it. Bonavena did not land many hard punches to put Frazier down twice.

IMO, Bonavena hit a shade harder than Ali who hurt Fraizer in the second fight, and TKO’d him in the third, though to be fair Ali landed a boat load of punches in Manila to score the TKO.

So I guess the best answer is anyone who hit on Bonavena’s level is where the “ punchers chance “ starts to TKO/KO Frazier baring a TKO/KO from a great amount of punches landed. Bonavena was a solid puncher, but failed to knock the best fighters he fought. Forget Ali, Bonavena failed to stop the likes of Ellis, Patterson, Lyle, Folley, Mildenberg, ect… Most punchers would score a TKO or Two vs the likes of these men.

 

No disputing that Frazier absorbed a brutal number of blows from Ali. But they weren't that hard. By that point in Ali's career he was experiencing pain in his hands and wrists and reserved his hard shots for the prime opportunities, when he had an opponent in trouble.

Otherwise, Ali's shots were basically like bouncing a basketball repeatedly off Joe's noggin. There was little follow through. What made Ali's punches seem harder than they really were was his brilliant technique of throwing slashing punches from unusual angles, which caused more bruising, swelling and cutting.

Another reason for this was because Ali's reflexes had slowed a bit. By bouncing lighter blows off opponents' heads, he could recover his stance quicker for better balance, defense and tossing combinations.

 

Possibly no one, but maybe a Weaver, or Coetzee, a less than 1% chance though.

 

Bert Cooper maybe. Right sort of height and punching style to get to the bobbing head of Frazier with something that could hurt. I think a shorter, stockier fighter with a wild style is more likely to potentially knockd down or TKO/KO Frazier than a taller more orthodox guy.

You did say "weakest puncher" though, and I'm not sure Cooper really qualifies as that.

 

Ali swelled his good eye shut in Manila, forcing Futch to call it off. Maybe Tunney could have done this.

The quote from Muhammad's 1975 autobiography ghostwritten by Richard Durham was that, "Nobody could count ten over Frazier's body as long as there was blood in it."

Bonavena was a single knockdown away from forcing an automatic stoppage in 1966, and Futch probably saved Joe from suffering this indignity in the Foreman rematch. However, to put Smoke down for the count, I think one would have to literally kill him, and that's what George was afraid might happen towards the end in Caracas.

 

I suppose one of the taller heavies who weren't KO artists would qualify since a taller guy could get could get far more leverage on their punches against a shorter fighter like Frazier. There's only one guy that meets the criteria and who I believe could realistically starch Frazier...

Riddick Bowe...

He was not a devastating puncher but his size/chin/hand speed/ingame combination would spell doom for Smokin' Joe.

 

I would assume were talking about Joe Frazier at or near his best. The first Bonavena fight was only Joe`s 11th pro fight. He hadnt reach his peak until about 2 years later.

The first Bonavena fight is not that good of a gauge. The second time they fought Oscar never had Joe in any serious trouble. Frazier basically walked through the guy as he didnt everyone else not named George Foreman.

As to the OP. I would say the weakest puncher that might stop Joe would be Larry Holmes. That would be on accumulation. Maybe swelling or a bad cut, though Joe didnt really cut Holmes type of punching style might do the trick.