LOL ! I am indeed a Brit Pugguy.I find '' Strewth '' to be an applicable word when I am bemused by an unorthodox proposition. For example,when someone questions the greatness of Smokin'Joe Frazier !
I don't know who wins but just as Foreman was a bad stylistic match up for Frazier Frazier is a bad stylistic match up for Holmes.
As I stated in a previous post I regard Larry Holmes as possibly the second greatest heavyweight-champion in history.Also I stated that Jimmy Young was badly underrated.Ok,we've established that Holmes is a very high-ranking ATG and Jimmy Young was a superb fighter. However neither of those warriors were quite as good as FOTC Muhammad Ali.Why on Earth would anybody dismiss Smokin' Joe's chances against either fighter ? It doesn't make sense.The FOTC Joe Frazier spells doom for any boxer (not called Muhammad Ali ) who doesn't possess the the nuclear punching power of,for example,George Foreman.
Joe Frazier and Jimmy Young fought all the time in Philadelphia. Young didn't box Frazier silly ever. In fact, Ossie Ocasio (a "very poor man's Joe Frazier") beat Jimmy Young rather easily twice when Young was the top contender by staying low, throwing hooks and being aggressive. Also, Larry Holmes said Frazier cracked three of his ribs when Larry sparred with Joe before the Ali-Frazier rematch. So, he kind of did "grind down" Holmes. This content is protected
Frazier is a horrible a match up for Young. One of the greatest swarmers ever, against a light hitting defensive fighter. Its not a good style match up for Young. I like both Frazier & Young but Young doesn't match up well with Frazier, Fraziers aggression and workrate would be too much for Young.
Aside from that moon stuff, Neil Armstrong doesn't really stand out from the pack either. I was seven years old on March 8th 1971 and knew nothing about anything, let alone boxing. And I was living on the other side of the world. But I sure as hell knew all about that fight weeks before it happened. It was miles bigger than any sporting event since. For all of the rest Joe achieved - and it's plenty - what he did that night strolls him into ATG category.
I will repeat something I said in one of my initial posts here. I have Joe at the tail end of my ATG top 10 and have enormous respect for him. At the same time, IMO he's placed on somewhat too high a pedestal by folks here who I think would literally pick him mano y mano to left hook Godzilla into submission if such a poll was set up, because they gravitate to his style and his heart and the fact that he was a true warrior, and because he was abused so badly outside the ring by Muhammad Ali.
Strewth is an excellent word just before entering the world of expletives and censorship. Otherwise, I find “f*ck me drunk!” very apt for conveying bemusement. Lol.
it wasn't the first fight he was closet to death he said it was Manila. Still withstanding no one had ever brought the fight to Ali with the same ferocity Frazier did.