Why isn't Ali's performance in Ali vs Frazier II as highly rated as the Fight of the Century?

I rank it as Ali's #2 win, only behind Rumble.

 

Both had been beaten since the first fight, joe was seen as past it in 74 also

 

Cause Frazier was almost blind in one eye and had already lost to Foreman.
Plus he was older, and the aging process affected him far more than Ali.
Just like Tyson, Frazier was never meant to be successful in his 30's. Their bodies won't allow them to be.
Short HW's with a small reach need to work a lot harder to get close enough to land their punches. That means they use up way more energy due to their fighting style. As you age, you can't maintain that rhythm.
Om the other hand, tall guys with a good reach can always use their jab to keep their opponents at bay.

 

Because he clinched like 127 times in that fight and illegally held the back of Frazier’s head?

 

Overlooked because it was non-championship (NABF be damned) and only 12 rounds. And, as you said, not the bang for buck that I and III represented.

 

Frazier was much easier to beat by then. The rematch was seen as the most lackluster of the trilogy. Ali was on a bit of a surge whereas Joe was not viewed the same after he was demolished by Foreman.

 

Ali struggled badly in that fight and was for the major of that fight smothered and ate a huge amount of body shots which on my scorecard gave him the fight but I count body shots as the rules indicate they count ? IDK. To add to this the commentary was very biased ,Ali was missing shots while they were cheering them on ,but they missed ? Very shady when Ali was getting talked up while missing shots ,but it was the Ali push ,he was boxing’s poster boy.

 

That's interesting that you scored it for Frazier. I do recall Frazier landing a lot of body shots, but not many head shots. Ali as the headhunter would make it hard to score against him while appearing to tee off on Frazier from the outside with the jab. Maybe it was Ali's poker face that won it getting hit with body shots but keeping a straight face not appearing to be affected by them.

 

Where did anybody say it wasn’t a good performance ????

 

Ali Frazier II was the very first Ali fight I saw all the way through.

I saw it when it was shown on TV (ITV in the late 80's, I think. The programme was called Top Rank fights of the 70's).

I was disappointed by both fighters, knowing that this was arguably the greatest heavyweight ever and the first guy who beat him.

Frazier was particularly slow and Ali didn't seem to have much in his punches.

Frazier I, Frazier III, Norton II and Foreman were all examples to me of significantly better performances by Ali but in all of them it was clear that this wasn't the insane calibre of fighter who battered Cleveland Williams.

 

It got worse, much worse..He had one fight in between being bounced by Foreman and the return fight with Ali for the title against burner...since when has earning your shot been working your way up ..???? It’s what the public want, rankings get juggled to suit, you do know that don’t you...Money talks

 

Tbf David, foreman Norton and Frazier were way better than the Williams that Ali fought