What If? Frazier vs. Foreman, March 1971

I would have put a lot of money on Foreman! Smoking Joe would have tried to swarm George (just as he did in their actual first fight) and how it would end would still have been obvious early on.

 

Most likely Foreman by stoppage, since although Frazier really pushed himself to get into excellent condition for Ali I don’t see Frazier doing the same for Foreman.

Frazier didn’t view Foreman as much of a threat in 1973, so I see Frazier looking past Foreman even more in 1971 and finding out the hard way.

 

Career timing is a great thing. There are a lot more nights where Foreman beats Frazier but there are some nights where Frazier wins.

In his fight with Ali we can see Joe landing blows in each round at long range. He beats Ali to the punch. His footwork was pin point. The foot placement and coordination involved for Frazier to land off the draw against Ali was pinpoint.

If you watch Foreman fight Ted Gullick, who whilst beaten early, also beat Foreman to the draw with a similar reach and stature to Frazier, you get an idea of the greater impression Frazier of 1971 might have made..and I think that’s what was wrong with the odds of Frazier vs Foreman. The bookies and the experts set those odds on a pre hospitalised 1971 version of Joe Frazier turning up in Kingston.

Frazier was a beast in 1971!

The experts picked 1971 Joe Frazier then and I pick 1971 Joe Frazier now.

Any later and poor Joe is at George’s mercy. And that’s what we saw anyway.

 

Fighting George at this early time in his career would helped Joeś chances and I give him a legit shot here but he has to survive the first 3-4 rounds without the fight being stopped. Could it happen? Yes. Would it? I wouldnt bet money on it. Also Joe said on more than one occasion he most likely wouldn have ever beaten Foreman, sometimes I guy is just wrong for you there are exceptions but Joe only had one way to fight and it played right into Foremanś strengths.

 

I like your user name. I've been an advocate for more styles that need to be considered when looking at boxers for along time. Slugger, Swarmer, Adapable, BoxingSlugger, BoxingSwarmer, and, yes, SwarmerSlugger. Great user name. It makes me think of Mike Tyson.

 

As mentioned in a previous post, I won $20.00 on Jan 22 1973 when George Foreman stopped Joe Frazier. I bet a classmate, and I collected the next day. The way I figured was that Joe had taken two easy fights (Terry Daniels and Ron Stander) since The Fight Of The Century, and was not prepared to meet a heavy handed fighter like George Foreman, who at that time was unbeaten. If both had met on March 8 1971 I think that the fight would have lasted longer than their original fight in 1973. But despite Joe Frazier's aggressiveness, George would have stopped Frazier in round 6, the same round of their rematch in 1976. Joe was highly motivated by Muhammad Ali's comments in the FOTC, but against George there would have been no motivation. Plus when Joe fought Ali, he had a lot to prove, to the public as Ali had not lost his title in the ring, Frazier fought like he was trying to take it, burying the aura of Ali.

 

the quote goes like joe is always destroyed which is bull when a person is in better shape he performs better so dont know where the always destroys come from

 

Frazier was not in very good shape when he fought Foreman. Arthur Mercante was in the same hotel as team Frazier. Arthur went to bed early in a room on the same floor, but music from a Frazier’s suite kept him up all night. He said they partied late into the night before the fight. Mercante could not believe it.

 

It’s hard to imagine Frazier ever beating Foreman, knowing how ineffective his style was against him. But given the proposed time frames i would give it the benefit of the doubt that it would at least be a better fight

 

As much as Joe Frazier was a great fighter, he had struggled against Oscar Ringo Bonavena on Sept 21 1966, getting decked in the same round but prevailed to win a controversial split decision, so imagine with a heavy hitter like George Foreman in 1973 and 1976. For Muhammad Ali in 1971, for George there was no motivation.

 

True. But if 1971 was the year in question then we’d be looking at a fully primed Frazier and a less experienced foreman. I still think George wins but it might actually go a few more rounds and Joe may even get a few good shots off

 

Agreed, but there was no motivation for unbeaten George Foreman like there was for Muhammad Ali on March 8 1971. George was not a big talker, he would not insult Joe Frazier like Ali did proceeding to the fight. Joe was vulnerable to a right hand, and also the fact that Frazier was a slow starter. George stepped on the gas early, and always kept his foot on it, throwing a whirlwind of punches, smothering his opponents. Also even early in his career, Foreman liked to push his adversaries off balance before landing his right hand. Joe even though he won in spectacular fashion, started very slow against Jimmy Ellis on Feb 16 1970 before he began to punish Ellis leading to a stoppage in round 5.

 

71' Frazier against prime Foreman would be an ATG tier fight. Joe was much harder to hit back then and if he could survive first 6-7 rounds then there is a real possibility of him getting UD or SD thanks to the championship rounds.

Then again, any small fighter is in for a nightmare against Foreman. I'd be still leaning towards him, especially if he has Moore in his corner already.

 

To be fair Joe defeated Bonavena through UD in their rematch.

The matchup against George is much lopsided in his favor and a Frazier victory is only possible if he plays more defensively until past round 5 once George starts gassing out. Up to that point in time Joe never backed off at all or went for clinches.