What If? Frazier vs. Foreman, March 1971

Still Foreman for me. Terrible type of matchup for Joe at various stages.

 

Styles. Foreman is always horrible for Joe.

 

Frazier, as hopped up as he was against Ali, overwhelms and stops Foreman in 7.

 

The reason Joe Frazier was hopped up against Muhammad Ali on March 8 1971 was that during Ali's absence from the ring, the fight fans continued to recognize Ali as champion, he never lost his title in the ring, it was stripped from him for refusing to accept the oath to be drafted into going to Vietnam, also he lost his boxing license. Ali continued to be a ghost that constantly haunted Frazier, in order to exorcize Ali, he had to fight and defeat him convincingly in the ring. At that point in time, Ali was hurling derogatory insults toward Joe, most of the public refused to consider Joe as champion. George Foreman when he fought Joe did not insult him or even give him a reason to be motivated enough to beat him. As many talented posters stated, stylistically George is a bad matchup for Joe in any time period. Frazier did not have the style to allow Foreman to get gassed, Joe had one gear only, a forward gear, no reverse but forward. And true Joe defeated Oscar Bonavena on Dec 10 1968 by unanimous decision, but many will not forget Frazier going down twice in the same round on Sept 21 1966, only to get up and win a hotly disputed decision over Bonavena.

 

Foreman stops ANY version of Frazier although at least it would be more competitive against a peak performing Frazier

I'm tired of this mythical nightmare Frazier we know as FOTC Frazier. We clearly saw every version of Frazier give Ali an incredibly hard night. His style and relentless is to blame. Foreman does not fight like Ali, he will manhandle Frazier and pummel him because he boxes different than Ali and punches way harder than Ali.

 

And true even in Muhammad Ali's first title reign from 1964-1967, Ali was not even a hard puncher, he was never a devastating hitter when he fought Joe Frazier.

 

George for me ,stylistically Frazier is meat for him,imo.

 

If George fought an FOTC Frazier with not only the conditioning BUT also the fanatical "win or die" ferocity Joe has a legit chance. But it would take that combination for Frazier to pull it off.

 

Mindset is of no use when Foreman is clubbing you. Unless Frazier learns how to fight going backwards the result would be the same.

If Frazier comes in smokin' Foreman will knock him out.

 

George was all wrong for Joe . Occam's Razor -parsimony of assumptions. The explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is the correct one.

 

He fought backwards when they met in Uniondale and despite being sad to see it only delayed the inevitable. George was all wrong for him.

 

A great question. Joe of FOTC gives any heavyweight champ a hard nights work. I wouldnt put it past him to get a win tho its hard to see a different outcome such was georges win being so emphatic. Can he win? most certainly hes capable. Will he win? im not sure but i would not back against him in march 71. i know my answer is all over the place but thats my genuine thoughts. Frazier was a monster then

 

Frazier was awfully green for that 1st Bonevena bout. 12th pro fight. He was stepping up to Oscar who had much more pro experience. I agree with your overall conclusion that Foreman would be too much but sometimes fans forget to give Frazier his just due. Joe rematched Bonavena in 1968 as New York Champion defeated him convincingly never in danger of going down. Keep Oscar pinned to the ropes and gave him the business.

 

I don't know if he would have won but Frazier stood a better chance of beating Foreman in March of 1971 if Ali was his next fight. Frazier really wanted Ali and would not have taken anyone lightly until he reached his goal. Also, Frazier's style was not conducive to having a long prime. He was better up to and including 1971 than we was after 1971. I can see a different outcome than their 1973 fight

If Ali had not been able to make a comeback then I don't know how seriously Joe takes George in 1971. George was a big guy with a lot of power but I don't think Frazier would have been too concerned. Without Ali as a reward, Foreman beats Frazier in four or five rounds.

 

But you have to agree Joe had no motivation going into the title defense against George Foreman, I could see his title defenses against Terry Daniels and Ron Stander, because of the punishment he suffered in winning the title defense against Muhammad Ali. I will concede that Frazier was too green for Bonavena in 1966, makes me wonder if Yank Durham was right about Joe fighting champion Ali in 1967, Yank stated that his fighter was too green for Clay, (Muhammad Ali).