What would the 15th round of Ali vs Frazier III look like?

So true.

 

I've heard that Frazier was still bitter at Futch,for stopping the fight,in recent years. Can't understand it.

 

Who knows if Ali had enough to finish Frazier off in the 15th round. I think the exhaustion factor would set in for both men at the start of the round and there wouldn't be a whole lot of punches thrown. Frazier looked like he had a little more energy than Ali, despite taking a lot of shots in the 14th. Perhaps Carlos Padilla would have stepped in and stopped the fight had Ali saved his last flurry for this round like he did against Shavers a few years later. Frazier's right eye was pretty much closed at that point so he would still have to take a step back to find his punching range. I wouldn't put it past Frazier to land a big hook and drop Ali in the last round like he did in the FOTC but Ali's fighting heart wouldn't keep him on the canvas, unless Frazier puts him down again.

Ali wins by UD, but not without a dangerous final round.

 

Who's to say Ali would have had the strength to keep his hands up and throw his jabs, let alone combinations. Both men were spent. Pacheco and Brown said Ali punched himself out in the 14th and were hoping for a stoppage. Dundee was the one working tirelessly on Ali's weary legs in the corner and this is apparently when Ali told him "cut em off, I ain't going out there, that man's crazy."

How much truth you put to this statement is the telling factor in the Ali's legacy. All three men in his corner said he wanted to quit and the only one ignoring him was Dundee.

 

Wow, old time thread getting bumped. Anyway...

These are basically my thoughts. Most likely a tamer version of the 14th as both men are exhausted, Frazier is still blind and had throw virtually nothing with any zip for the past 2 rounds, and Ali would know he only had to kill 3 minutes to make it to the end.

The two guys lean all over each other, occasionally throwing exhausted arm punches, and then after spending about half the round that way Ali makes one last big statement with a series of combos and flurries until the bell rings.

 

And before he died, Futch was very candid and clear in an interview I watched. He said Frazier stood up in protest after being told by Futch he was going to stop the fight. Eddie put his hand on Frazier's shoulder, sat him back down and told him it's all over.

After the 14th round, Futch asked Joe about Ali's right hand, to which you are correct, Frazier said "I can't se them to good." How does this echo a cry for help, when the man wanted to go out fighting?

 

What I figure McGrain is saying is that Frazier was too stubborn, proud and tough to ever back away for a fight, admit to weakness, or surrender rather than keep battling. For him to admit to having any difficulty meant it was very severe indeed.

Kind of like in a movie or show where someone very tough and stoic gets injured, and when they asked if they're ok, they say something like "Kinda smarts a bit" and later on you find out that they have a broken bone sticking out through the skin.

And on top of that, Futch knows that Frazier was blind in one eye due to cataracts and the other eye had swollen to a slit. He know Frazier had thrown only very few punches the last two rounds, and those punches were arm punches. He knows in the meantime that Ali had been wearing out his hands on Frazier's head. Most of all, he knows that he's seen a lot of fighters get killed in the ring.

Maybe if Joe was 100% confident, had a second wind, and was raring to go for the last round he would have let it go on. But that's not what happened, so Futch did the humane thing and stopped the fight.

 

You never know. Educated guess says that given that Frazier was getting hit a lot in the 14th, and really could not see too well, he probably keeps getting hit a lot in the 15th. However, Ali was likely tired from hitting him so much, so it is possible that Ali slows the pace a bit and does what he needs to do to win the round without taking too many risks of getting caught with something in a fatigued state. Perhaps he pours it on in spots to test Joe, but I'm not totally certain he had the power to stop Frazier. It is possible though, depending on how bad Frazier's vision was and just how tired/broken down he was. It is possible that the referee steps in and stops it with Frazier on his feet but simply taking too many clean shots.

I think Futch knew Frazier was behind, knew he was getting hit more and more and couldn't see, and realized things weren't likely to get any better for his man, and that he would just be going out there to take punishment, which at that late stage of the fight, given all the cumulative punishment, could land him in the hospital. So he felt that enough was enough. Perhaps he wanted to give Frazier the out so Joe could blame the corner, and protect his pride by never having Ali stand over him with his arms raised while Joe was on the canvas.

Personally, I don’t think either Frazier or Ali were ever the same again after their first fight.

 

frazier fought this fight from the beginning and loads of fights before this blind in 1 eye

and he wanted out???? lol behave

 

Ali would've quit. Ali was asking to get his gloves cut off when they ended the fight, he was quitting, he spit his mouthpiece out.

 

They both had taken a lot out of each other. A lot would depend on rather or not Ali felt he was doing on the score cards. In reality he had a comfortable lead. If he felt he was a head enough to give the around away. He would have had done his best to stay away, and when he couldn't stay away he would have held. The result would be a unamious decision victory for Ali.
If Ali felt he needed to win the last round the winner of the round would be whoever could dig a little deeper than the other guy. Both Ali and Frazier were hurt, both were ready to be stopped. Frazier needed to stop Ali to win.