Fight of the century!

What are your views on the first Ali v Frazier fight. I have a few questions...

1) Why did Ali choose to slug it out with that version of Frazier?

2) Did Ali commit a huge mistake in fighting the wrong fight?

3) Was the fact that Ali's legs were not what they were the reason why he stood in front of Frazier or was Frazier just unstoppable for any heavy back then.?

Ali\s style should have been enough to outpoint a come forward slugger like Frazier. I am not saying it would have been easy but his jab, footwork, and combinations would beat any small heavy even TYSON so why did he choose to fight the wrong fight?

Ring rust

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Why did Ali choose to slug it out with that version of Frazier?

I've always thought it's more of a case of Frazier forcing him to fight that kind of fight, rather than Ali 'choosing' to.

Having watched the fight at least half a dozen times in my life, one thing which surprised me is how well Frazier started. He was a notoriously slow starter, but not that night. Ali actually spent the first round using his 'dancing' style, rather than going toe-to-toe. However, I think he was genuinely surprised at how alert Frazier was right from the off. Ali couldn't circle the ring and dance because Frazier just didn't let him.

How much did Ali's lay off have to do with the defeat? I'm not sure. I don't think we should degrade what was, by any measure, an absolutely fabulous win for Smokin' Joe, but I will say that Ali's timing was a little off. Once he started mistiming the jab, his reach advantage, for all intents and purposes, disappeared, and without that, an Ali-Frazier fight becomes a much more even affair.

I think Frazier just had the greatest night of his life and made it simply impossible for Ali to box at range as he would have liked.

88Chris05 wrote:

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Why did Ali choose to slug it out with that version of Frazier?

I've always thought it's more of a case of Frazier forcing him to fight that kind of fight, rather than Ali 'choosing' to.

Having watched the fight at least half a dozen times in my life, one thing which surprised me is how well Frazier started. He was a notoriously slow starter, but not that night. Ali actually spent the first round using his 'dancing' style, rather than going toe-to-toe. However, I think he was genuinely surprised at how alert Frazier was right from the off. Ali couldn't circle the ring and dance because Frazier just didn't let him.

How much did Ali's lay off have to do with the defeat? I'm not sure. I don't think we should degrade what was, by any measure, an absolutely fabulous win for Smokin' Joe, but I will say that Ali's timing was a little off. Once he started mistiming the jab, his reach advantage, for all intents and purposes, disappeared, and without that, an Ali-Frazier fight becomes a much more even affair.

I think Frazier just had the greatest night of his life and made it simply impossible for Ali to box at range as he would have liked.

One of the few times Ali's trash talking backfired on him...Always thought Fraziers inside game was a nightmare for him.

Frazier did not allow him to fight his fight.

I believe that Frazier, on that night, would have beaten any version of Ali. Ali seemed to get tougher with age and looked a lot more vulnerable his pre-exile.

This fight is why I think a young Tyson would trouble Ali - maybe even outpoint him.

fearlessBamber wrote:Frazier did not allow him to fight his fight.

I believe that Frazier, on that night, would have beaten any version of Ali. Ali seemed to get tougher with age and looked a lot more vulnerable his pre-exile.

This fight is why I think a young Tyson would trouble Ali - maybe even outpoint him.

Tyson doesn't have the mental strength that Frazier did...Frazier can suck it up and grind it out something Tyson is not known for doing if he cant get the knockout.

The genius of PBF wrote:

fearlessBamber wrote:Frazier did not allow him to fight his fight.

I believe that Frazier, on that night, would have beaten any version of Ali. Ali seemed to get tougher with age and looked a lot more vulnerable his pre-exile.

This fight is why I think a young Tyson would trouble Ali - maybe even outpoint him.

Tyson doesn't have the mental strength that Frazier did...Frazier can suck it up and grind it out something Tyson is not known for doing if he cant get the knockout.

I think that is a valid argument and certainly is a minus against Tyson.

However, he was bigger, faster and hit harder than Frazier. For me, he is one of the former champs who has a great chance of upsetting the greatest.

fearlessBamber wrote:Frazier did not allow him to fight his fight.

I believe that Frazier, on that night, would have beaten any version of Ali. Ali seemed to get tougher with age and looked a lot more vulnerable his pre-exile.

This fight is why I think a young Tyson would trouble Ali - maybe even outpoint him.

Agreed (except about the Tyson bit - who was more of a slugger not a swarmer and so would struggle a bit more with Ali's style a la Foreman).

That was peak and prime Frazier - at his best. Ali had 2 warmups and tuneups and had put the rounds in the bank -= but Frazier simply didn't let him fight. Great win, great fight.

I was absolutely devastated when Frazier beat Ali, and looked for every excuse under the Sun to justify it. It took a while, but somewhere along the line I figured out that Frazier simply fought out of his skin and had the exact style to give Ali nightmares.

I was a teenager then, and Ali was my hero. He still is, but the difference is that now I simply believe that the fight was won by the better man on the night.

HumanWindmill wrote:I was absolutely devastated when Frazier beat Ali, and looked for every excuse under the Sun to justify it. It took a while, but somewhere along the line I figured out that Frazier simply fought out of his skin and had the exact style to give Ali nightmares.

I was a teenager then, and Ali was my hero. He still is, but the difference is that now I simply believe that the fight was won by the better man on the night.

Wore the wrong socks?

Ali was ahead after nine, but throughout the fight, he just couldn't stop Joe reaching him with the left hook, always Ali's bogey punch. In the tenth, Joe started to take control and he almost had Ali out of there in the 11th. Apart from the fourteenth, Ali didn't win a round after the ninth. That fight was, as Frazier had predicted, all about conditioning, and Ali's long lay-off hadn't quite prepared him for the superhuman endurance that Joe brought to the table. That, plus the fact that he was up against a man at his very peak, was the decisive factor in The Fight.