Frazier had some great people around him and a layman could see that Frazier could never beat Foreman with his style yet there was a rematch. Only thing I could think of is that Joe really wanted himself seeing the type of man he was
Great question! Little known fact, despite Foreman's COMPLETE annihilation of Smokin' Joe, Frazier was the only man to ever fight Foreman twice. Nobody, not even Ali himself did that. So the myth that Frazier ducked big punchers was kind of bull****. But I digress. I think Frazier just wanted to redeem himself after that blow out. And he did. I don't think he thought he was gonna win.
Shows the true warrior Joe was. After Manilla, Joe was just very war torn and didn't need to keep fighting, yet he fights (of all people) George Foreman again.
Because he was the ultimate down home badazz. He only had 2 people to. Measure himself against, and if he beats Big George he gets the first one again,
Frazier wanted to see if his loss in 1973 first time out was due to a poor game plan and a tactical error of fighting in his usual attacking swarming style. He wanted to get not necessarily get revenge but a chance to do better and show himself that he wasnt always going to get KOd in one or 2 rounds against Foreman. This in 1976 when Frazier was wearing contact lenses, had poor eyesight and was past it. In the re-match you see Frazier fighting in a more cagey style and moving backwards a lot and fighting in a way he never fought before. He still lost every round.
Greg Peralta fought Foreman twice. Kirkman fought him once in a real fight, once in the Foreman vs. Five Men circus.
I think Frazier sincerely thought that he could beat Foreman with a different strategy. If you don’t try you will never know.
Foreman claims he jumped on Frazier and even Norton early because he was intimidated... especially by Frazier. He also said some nice things about Liston regarding their sparring sessions. I don't really buy it. I think it's more of a case of Foreman showing respect. After all, who wants to bash the people they were in the ring with... it doesn't help a fighters legacy if he's fighting a guy who sucks. I never understand it when a fighter bashes his opposition... so basically what they are saying is that they never fought anyone decent. Frazier May not have been at his very best vs. Foreman in '73 but I doubt it would have mattered much. Sure, a past prime Frazier lasted 4 1/2 rounds but this was after Foreman's loss to Ali... he wasn't exactly the same fighter either. I give Joe a lot of credit fighting Foreman again and he showed that he could change (can't really say adapt) even if it didn't work. They both weighed in at 224 but It looked like a man vs. a child.
Joe's statements after the bout were a little odd about the fight and his changed look. He used this style against Stander also which was a surprise but then Ron was no Foreman. George was abit sloppy but after Frazier 1 and the Norton bout that became a common with him, I can't recall if Sadler was still training him at this time but under Gil with the shortened stance George always seemed unbalanced.
