Who would beat FOTC Joe Frazier?

Lewis doesn't come in stupid against his most dangerous foes. He'll be way up for this one.

I'm also not sure Frazier will be merrily accumulating points. He starts slow and Lewis is going to throw some big ones right up in this one. Frazier won't be just having his own way up and down, Lewis has enormous power unlike Ali and Frazier will be paying a heavy price. My feeling is that Frazier will make Lewis fight hard with his danger and pressure and this will be his own undoing, tho it's the neccessary nature of the beast. Lewis can tie these little guys up quite effectively. I'd be willing to put a very substancial wager on Lewis at even money.

I like Joe a lot, in some matchups tho i just can't take him. Against the likes of Holmes, Louis, Marciano, Dempsey etc tho i give him excellent chances. I think he'd take the Rock, and i don't say that lightly in such a matchup.

 

I think its reasonable to favor Lennox Lewis over Joe Frazier ( though I'm not claiming one thing or another.)

If we really want to look at this from a stylistic perspective, one can certainly observe that in a career consisting of some 45 pro fights, Lewis almost never struggled with a left hooker. In fact, he destroyed quite a few of them with ease. Additionally, Joe Frazier seemed to have a soft spot for good right handers as well as those with well polished left jabs, which describes Lewis quite accurately. Lastly, I hate to bring up the tired old rhetoric about size as I know it doesn't mean everything, but it can't be ignored either. Lewis was something like 6 inches taller than Joe, and on most nights would have outweighed him by 30 LBS or more, plus regualarly defeated guys of the same or similar dimensions.

CONCLUSION: I'm not claiming that one man would beat the other, but for those posters who pick Lewis, I must say in all honesty, a strong argument can be made in favor of such a pick.

 

Most will always say Foreman beats any version of Frazier, but I doubt that he would have been able to handle the 1967 - 1969 version of Frazier. George maybe has Frazier down early in the fight like Bonavena did but I don't like George's chances of stopping this version of Frazier as opposed to the fighter that showed up to Jamaica in 1973. Joe was one of the best body punching heavyweights and that would be the difference, unless Foreman is allowed to push, shove, and grab his shoulders like Mercante allowed him to do in the 1973 fight.

Maybe a prime Larry Holmes at his very best, beats Frazier by UD over 15 rounds. Maybe 1966 or 1967 Ali outpoint him over 15 rounds. I think FOTC Frazier would still catch them both and drop them at least once.

I don't think Frazier was prime when he fought Ali in the FOTC. Conditioning wise he was at his best, weight 205.5 lbs but his vision and blood pressure problems were beginning to become serious issues at that time in his career. He kept putting off cataract surgery from the time he beat Mathis and Ellis.

 

Lennox Lewis wouldn't know what to do with the head movement of a prime Joe Frazier. I certainly think he makes this fight competive in the early rounds but Frazier would slow him down and whack him to the body early and often. Lennox never faced the type of pressure, head movement and body attack that Joe Frazier brings to the fight.

David Tua and Mike Tyson don't count because they were both past it physically when the fought Lewis and for the most part, Lennox just backed up, jabbed and countered. It's shameful that this fight didn't happen before Tyson's exile but Lewis should have knocked out Tyson earlier than he did but still respected Tyson's power. Lewis would find himself on the floor or battered in the corner against Frazier because he couldn't back up as fast as Ali and he didn't counter with the right hand nowhere near as quick as Ali.

 

One things for sure the Frazier of that fight would be life and death for any Champion.

 

head to head that joe frazier beats up alot of fighters nobody would suspect him of having a chance agianst

 

Ali, Johnson, Tyson, Dempsey, Louis and Foreman, and NONE with absolute confidence. Perhaps Lewis.

That night, Frazier achieved what he was born to do -an extraordinary victory, in the province of only the very greatest fighters of all time.

When pure desire assists a great fighter as it did against Ali in that Garden ring, all bets are off.

 

Sorry, just a quick inquiry - how was Tua past it? He seemed in the prime of his life to me.

 

Well the actual sentence was

and i'll stand by that one. His size, skill and strength really does make it hard. I think he'll nullify a bit of Fraziers most dangerous work via these factors. Frazier is a great heavy but i just don't like him here, or vs certain others. Don't worry, as a whole i don't think he gets his due on this forum.

 

Well, there are a few. Under their rules I pick Jeffries and Johnson with confidence. I think Joe Louis would have a field day timing Frazier´s bob and weave and take him out early. Marcciano has a chance but it´s more 50/50 than anything else. Any version of Ali would lose to this Frazier imo. Foreman always beats him. Holmes I think would beat him, though he is similar to Ali, I think his jab was better and would be the key to win. Holyfield has a chance in a war but this is 50/50. Lewis I think would use his stay on the outside and tie him up and lean on him tactic and win in an ugly fight.

 

I'd favour:

Pre exile Ali
Holmes
Louis
Liston
Tyson
Foreman
Lewis

Decent shot:

Johnson
Tunney
Walcott


Only really Foreman and Liston would handle him with something approaching ease, Lewis and Tyson would be a stylistic uphill struggle too. All these four guys I see stopping Frazier.

 

Foreman, Liston, Louis

After that I'm not so sure. I don't think any of the cultured boxers could beat him, including Ali.

Dempsey has a chance. Marciano would lose a war. Holmes would be out punched over the distance.

Lennox has a chance. I appreciate JT's scenario and it makes perfect sense. But if lennox doesn't finish it early he's going to be in with a man who will make him work for 3 mins of every round and Lennox could never fight at that pace. This will either be a convincing win for Lewis or a mangling of epic proportions.

 

I like Foreman in two and slightly favour Liston and Louis in wars, I don't belive Liston can do what Foreman did and Frazier has a very very good chin not like Patterson.

I agree with JT on Lewis, Lewis has the power and size to stop Frazier in his tracks and I see him knocking him out later in the fight, Lewis just seems to handle a fighter like Frazier easily.