Why didn't joe frazier fight more of the other big name 1970s heavyweights?

I can't say as I wasn't alive at the time, but the Norton fight would never have happened. That's pretty common knowledge. As for the other 3 ... Money perhaps?

 

Ron Lyle fought on the Frazier-Stander card in May 1972, and then Frazier flew to Colorado to watch Lyle fight Buster Mathis at the end of September 1972. Rumors in Colorado were that Frazier was there to scout Lyle for an upcoming title defense.

Then the WBA demanded Frazier defend his title against his top contender George Foreman, so Frazier did in January and lost the title. Two weeks later, Lyle lost a decision to Quarry.

I think that's about as close as Lyle and Frazier came to fighting.

Frazier and Norton shared the same trainer. There's a ThamesTV documentary before Ali-Frazier 1 that has a lot of footage of Frazier and Norton sparring. There's a clip from the doc on YouTube, but the Frazier-Norton footage isn't part of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScPH1EBu52Q

Jimmy Young trained at Frazier's gym in Philly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXJ81hU_ygQ I don't know what their relationship was like. When they sparred, Frazier was the KING of that gym. By the time Young emerged as a top contender in late 1975/early 1976, Frazier's career was basically over.

Never heard of a Frazier and Shavers fight ever being discussed.

 

that sounds about right. I never knew how that fight came about and the only story I got came from THE RING in their coverage that Joe couldnt resist the 850 K Joe would get for fighting George and passed up 3.2 mil for an Ali rematch, calling it "one of the biggest boos boos in the ****s of Ring History"

sounds like fishy story telling to me

 

He didn't fight Sonny Liston either. Frazier has the right style to eat up smaller boxer types without big time power. I believe his management knew Frazier's strengths and weakness well, and did not match him vs other punchers. I think Frazier would fight anyone, but he didn't call the shots.

Frazier's two lineal title defenses vs. Stander and Daniels didn't exactly keep him sharp. While a new champion can schedule an easy match, scheduling two of them vs guys not ranked in the top 20 was questionable.

According to Larry Holmes, Frazier once knocked Jimmy Young out in the gym.

The Norton or Lyle fight in hindsight would have been huge in the mid 1970's

 

I'll tell you why. The fighters you mentioned were not established at the time that Joe was still really active. In the early 70's, it was the survivors of the late sixties that were still sorting things out: Joe, Ali, Patterson, Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena, etc..

It wasn't until 1973 that some of the guys you mentioned made some attention-getting noise: Norton beat Ali, and Shavers beat Ellis (but quickly lost to Quarry). Young got a draw with Shavers in their second fight, and beat Lyle, but even so, wasn't really known until 1976 with the Ali fight. Lyle was still considered pretty much of a nobody in '75 when he got his Ali shot, as he'd just lost to Young in his previous fight. He'd beaten Bonavena and Ellis (I think. I don't feel like looking it up right now). but hadn't established himself due to his losses to Quarry and Young. He really didn't become a star until the Foreman fight in '76.
By '75 Frazier was spent and wanted to just beat Ali and then move on, but after the Thrilla the biggest fight available for him was the Foreman rematch. Gotta praise Joe's bravery for taking that fight; he could've taken on lesser guys and gotten himself back into contention, possibly.
Joe did fight Joe Bugner though, who was more of a 70's heavyweight than a sixties one, so the statement isn't entirely true that he didn't fight some decent contenders at the time.

 

atsch

 

as i recall Jerry quarry was actually a Favourite in some quarters to beat Joe in the Rematch, Joe had not been looking sharp, he was probably lucky the Bugner fight was not a 15 Rounder, Quarry However was on a fine Run coming into the rematch, Nobody seemed to have a problem with this match at the time...

In Fact Jerry Quarry proved something of a roadblock to Frazier, There was some talk of Mac Foster being Matched with Joe, but Jerry put a spoke in that wheel, he of course later upset Ronnie Lyle, and Further Still of course Hammered Shavers in Jig Time, One would have to study a proper Time-Line to nail down when a fight was Ripe or Hype.

 

Because Frazier peaked 66-72 where he did a pretty impressive clean up of all the relevant guys in Ellis, Quarry, Jones, Machen, Bonavena, Ramos, Chuvalo, Mathis, and Ali.


After losing the title to Foreman in 73, he fought just 6 more times in the 70s. Ali x2, Foreman again, Quarry who just beat Shavers and Lyle, and two tune ups against Ellis and Bunger.

In short, he was on the decline, and not very active in the mid 70s so he just took a series of super fights with the cream, only bothering with two minor fights.

Norton and Frazier of course share Futch, so that wasn't happening.

 

I think Frazier and Norton were friends.

 

He did use Young, Lyle and Norton as sparring partners ..

I think it's important to keep in mind that the vast majority of Frazier's career and highlights were in the 60's and almost all before March of 71 .. after that he was semi-spent and half blind .. I think he pretty much thrashes any of the above guys anyway .. too busy for Young, too fast for Lyle, too tough for Shavers and Norton .. was Joe matched carefully after the Foreman loss ? Sure to some degree he used risk reward like any well managed fighter ..

 

Perhaps because these big names, had trouble establishing themselves in the rankings?

 

presumably you mean some sonny liston other than the by then dead one.

 

Ali and Ellis was a title fight. NABF, but still a title fight, and Ali was willing to part with Dundee to make it happen.

Frazier and Norton were never in such position.