While I think most will pick 70-71, I believe a case could be made for the Frazier of the late sixties, or even the seasoned never-say-die Frazier of 74 and 75. No 1972-1973 for reasons that should be obvious: the Daniels and Stander fights, then being blown out by Foreman.
Joe Frazier's prime was when he defended his undisputed World Heavyweight Title against challenger, undefeated Muhammad Ali, on March 8 1971, in Madison Square Garden. Ali was stripped of his title on April 28 1967, also his license had been revoked. Ali had two victories in 43 months, on Oct 26 1970, he stopped no.1 contender Jerry Quarry, TKO 3, and on Dec 7 1970, stopped Oscar Bonavena, TKO 15. Joe was at his absolute best that night in his victory over Ali in a 15 round decision.
I would say Joe's prime years were 1969-71 with his peak at the FOTC in 1971. As noted above, for 72-73 the less said the better. He did have some fine performances in 74 and 75 even in defeat, which dispelled the rumors that he had been a sick man unfit for boxing. I always believed that terms could not be reached for the Ali rematch and Joe took the Daniels and Stander matches to keep busy. But I also believe that along the way he lost interest in boxing. Post-FOTC his weight was often something like 10 lbs heavier than his FOTC weight and he no longer had that aura of invincibility that he had leading up to his peak. That Joe was like a tank, going through anything and everything his opposition threw at him.
Absolute prime was March 1971. He left pieces of himself in the ring that night. His decline had begun from then on. A slow one. Still had enough to beat the contenders of the day, and take Ali close to death in Manila, but his last great moment s were in FOTC.
For sure the FOTC was indeed his zenith, but his most brutal, efficient and clinical performance ( for me ) was his scary 2 round demolition of an ATG Bob Foster, he looked bigger, stronger, and more destructive in that fight than any other I believe... keep well.
Joe left everything he had in the ring that night...March 8, 1971...during the FOTC. He was not going to be denied. You would have had to kill Joe to beat him that night. That was his PEAK performance. He was never the same again!!!
I’d say very late 60’s until the first Ali fight was his prime. The fight of the century was a man that wouldn’t be denied, he beat the **** out of Ali, unstoppable. What has to be remembered is that not only did Frazier leave a piece of him in the ring that night, his style burns out faster than a pure boxer. He was past his fighting physical best by the time he met Big George. If you could’ve got big George in a time machine to 71 fotc, he’d of found a much tougher opposition in Frazier than the one he fought imo
An underrated win was the stoppage of George Chuvalo. He went toe to toe with a bigger brawler and outbrawled him becoming the first man to stop Chuvalo. That fight probably made him, but is rightly overshadowed by the win over Ali and pole axing poor Jimmy Ellis. He also was the first to stop Jerry Quarry. The win over Ali broke Joe. He was really a part time fighter after this albeit a high profile part time fighter with but a couple of good nights left in him.
FOTC Frazier was awesome!! Great bounce and head movement, tremendous conditioning, and that meat-cleaver left hook--this version of Frazier IMHO has a chance against ANY heavyweight in history. But that fight took an incredible toll--he never again reached that level of ferocity. (Granted, he fought a tremendous fight in Manila but that version of Smokin Joe is maybe 70-75% of the FOTC Smokin Joe.)
