Ali vs Frazier I, II, III

Ali was awesome in the first fight. But that was Frazier's night. I always like it when an Ali fan says something like, "Oh, Frazier was lucky Ali was exiled." I can always fire back with, "Oh, well, Frazier was blind in one eye, and had subpar vision in the other." Ali was good for a very long time. That's why he is the best. But Frazier was an absolute monster from 68-71, and would have beaten any version of Ali in that time.

Some points: Ali had 2 refresher fights against top contenders Quarry and Bonavena who Frazier had already beat. Ali in 1971 may have been at his comeback peak. He was only 29 and undefeated with an ax to grind. Frazier was simply the superior fighter that day. He was a machine that could only be stopped by KO. Ali had a more productive career because Frazier's style needed youth and Frazier had physical problems which boxing exacerbated such as eye problems and hypertension. That being said, Frazier had as much if not more will than Ali. Though Frazier was well past his physical best in the 3rd fight as was Ali, not many know that it was Ali who wanted to quit, not Frazier. Frazier was stopped by Futch just seconds before they learned that Ali had already quit in his corner. The only difference was that Dundee refused to let Ali quit much like he refuse to let him quit against Liston. Frazier reportedly held a grudge against Futch until the day he died and of course Frazier has always had mixed feelings about Ali.

This was a blood fued. There ain't no excuses. there ain't no excuses in this rivalry. That was already established by Ali in their first fight. Do you think Ali was able to fight Frazier while he was still in his prime ? no. He went straight up to Frazier after 4 years of inactivity taken right out of his prime. When you are as great as Ali though, and as confident a champ as he was, there ain't no convincing him that he can't do it. It was pretty much a tragedy that he was forced to fight Frazier after so long out of the game. We probably got robbed of the fight were actually supposed to see between them. The fight that took place was, in my opinion, more fascinating and intense for certain reasons, but there ain't no question that Ali took a hell of a lot more punishment than he would have if they had matched up a few years earlier. Equal to Ali, Frazier seemed to also understand what their rivalry and its sacrifices entailed. He provided that evidence with his epic effort against Ali in Manila as his body had already started to fail him. Just like Ali in their first fight, he didn't make any excuses in Manila. These guys don't have that word in their vocabulary. A couple of champions, those two.

i dont care what he said, he was still great. shot or not.

frazier was the shit. ali was the shit. those fights are great to watch no matter how many times i have seen them. ali clearly one the second and third fights and there was nothing wrong with frazier he was amazing in all three fights ali just out boxed him in the end.

I find it fascinating and somewhat tragic watching Ali with Frazier in their first fight. Every time he taunts him, every time he plays pattycake with Frazier's face, it makes me cringe a little because I know that these playful tactics only get Ali hurt against a terminator of a man. He can not crack Frazier with any of these psychological tactics. It is amazing to watch Ali use these strategies for the first many rounds only to eventually realize that he was up against a different breed. By the time Ali realizes he needs to administer the fire to Frazier it is too late. He has taken too much punishment to the body and has slowed to the point where he cannot escape Joe's hooks to the head.

Ali was not in very good shape in the first fight, as he had already started slacking in training before the exile, and couldn't cope with the work rate of a much better conditioned Frazier. By the second fight, Frazier's speed and reflexes had already started to go, and Ali was in pretty decent shape. In the third fight, Ali was pretty much in the same shape as in the second fight, and had been active, and Frazier probably shouldn't have even been fighting, in spite of engaging in a life and death struggle with Ali. Frazier's performance in that last fight was conditioning and will, pure and simple. Even the Frazier that in Frazier vs. Ali III would have given Lewis fits. I think it was basically all about Frazier being at his best in the first fight, I think even if Ali was in shape, he wouldn't have been the same Ali that beat Cleveland Williams, and Frazier would have been able to put too much pressure on Ali because of Ali's geatly diminished footwork. I don't think Ali "adapted", he just was in better shape in the second two, while Joe faded.

ali is the greatest plain and simple nothing is that plain and simple

ali is the greatest plain and simple

I agree that Ali was much more adaptable than Frazier in the 2nd and 3rd fights. Ali's rope-a-dope played right into Frazier's hands in the first fight so he switched his style and simply machine gunned Joe each time he came in. And Frazier can use whatever excuses about his eye that he can muster. Nobody forced him to sign on for the last two fights with a bad right eye, and it was his responsibility to protect his good left eye from getting swollen. But to be fair to Frazier, he did win the only fight, of the three, that mattered, though I like their 3rd fight the best.