Joe Frazier vs Vitali Klitschko

[paul750]

One thing a lot of fighters seem to lack now is intensity. That would give Klitschko problems in itself. Very hard fight for Frazier though.

[them_apples]

incorrect... when Muhammad Ali was interested in fighting Wilt Chamberlain, Howard Cosell had both of them in the studio and Angelo Dundee measured the height of both men, Muhammad Ali was 6ft 4 & 1/2ins tall with his shoes on, take off the half inch for the shoes and Muhammad Ali is 6ft 4ins, when Ali and Foreman came face to face in the ring in their title fight it was clear to see that Ali was the taller man.. do not believe what you read on boxrec they claim Gerry Cooney is 6ft 5ins when in fact he is 6ft 7ins

Ali is listed at 6'3 everywhere, if he's 6'4..then Foreman must be 6'5 because he looked taller than Ali when they fought.

[them_apples]

Hi Sonnybox, I'm so jealous of all the fights you've attended. Wow, lucky guy! I'm still sticking to my guns on Vitali though.

I dont know what Boxrec is but all the weath of statistics I have state that Ali was 6ft 3. I'd rather stick to that than the findings of a show and approximate estimates while a fighter has his shoes on! I may be wrong but some of those other height stats seem a bit higher than I remember seeing.

Joe Bugner may have more raw skill that Vitali, but the gap isn't much. As for conditioning, guile and workrate I'd favour Vitali and down to punch resistance and punch power Vitali walks away with it by a big margin.

I still cant get over the gap in height too, 6ft 8 is so much taller than Frazier and lets be honest now, Frazier did not have the most amazing chin and got hit hard in most of his fights, whereas Vitali has terrific power.

You also say:

'Vitali also has very suspect stamina and he also fights with zero guard'

Are you sure you re not mixing this up with Wlad? Now Wlad has shown suspect stamina and has left his chin out to dry (not to mention being knocked out a few times). Whereas I cant actually recall Vitali having been down in a fight (although I think he has), his chin is very good. He took some very hard blows from Lewis and I've never seen stamina problems.

I know I'm a bit like a stuck record when it comes to me often favouring much bigger guys (who can fight well like Lewis, Bowe, Vitali) over the legends of the past such as Marciano, Frazier and Dempsey. The problem is, that history shows us that a good big un often beats a good little un. If heavyweights that are under six foot and weigh around the 200Lb mark could win titles today you'd have thought that more than one would have managed it in the last three decades. Tyson is that one and his feet and hands were far faster than Frazier's.

Foreman showed us what happens when Frazier gets hit hard and Foreman would have beat any version of Frazier..........maybe not in two rounds, but he'd surely win. I can just see Vitali doing the same thing.

always thought Vitali was 6'6..he didn't seem that much taller than Lewis.

[Dynamite Kid]

Joe Frazier is my fav out of Ali, Foreman, Holmes and all the other Norton etc, but Joe is aways gonna have trouble with a big man because he is tailor made for a bigger man, he comes straight at you and gives you a better opportunity to makes your size and strength advantage a major factor in the fight.


If Joe was a bit of a mover then you never know but he isn't.

[them_apples]

Joe Frazier is my fav out of Ali, Foreman, Holmes and all the other Norton etc, but Joe is aways gonna have trouble with a big man because he is tailor made for a bigger man, he comes straight at you and gives you a better opportunity to makes your size and strength advantage a major factor in the fight.


If Joe was a bit of a mover then you never know but he isn't.

he took down a lot of big men. Not everyone is George Foreman

[Dynamite Kid]

he took down a lot of big men. Not everyone is George Foreman

I dont like his chances thats all i will say.

[MikeT86]

Joe did well against tall movers, but pressure fighters won't do well against tall long power punchers who want to fight planted.
Foreman's Ideal fight was to stand stock still in the middle of the ring and use that platform to brutalize his opponant with raw power.
Frazier wanted you to keep retreating since he generated power off of movement. Frazier's a better fighter than Klitschko but it's not a great match up for him style wise.

[sleazyfellow]

If frazier could make it past the first 4 rounds he could have a chance, his body attack and of course left hook would be trouble for anyone.

If Vitiali came out in the mindset he wanted to leave early he could very well do so, cause Frazier was like Marciano, took him a little while to warm up.

Its a toss up, either Vitiali stops him early (Frazier did NOT have a glass chin, if he did he wouldnt of been champion to begin with), or Frazier gets to him late.

[them_apples]

Joe did well against tall movers, but pressure fighters won't do well against tall long power punchers who want to fight planted.
Foreman's Ideal fight was to stand stock still in the middle of the ring and use that platform to brutalize his opponant with raw power.
Frazier wanted you to keep retreating since he generated power off of movement. Frazier's a better fighter than Klitschko but it's not a great match up for him style wise.

George had a huge uppercut. Vitali doesn't. Frazier would beat Vitali. Vitali couldn't stop Sam Peter who ate his punches willingly. He quit.

[Jim Jeffries]

always thought Vitali was 6'6..he didn't seem that much taller than Lewis.

I believe Wlad is 6'6" (though he describes himself as 6'5".) Vitali is clearly the taller of the two brothers. He didn't fight very tall against Lewis, which is why they looked about the same height. I'm up in the air about this matchup, would've liked to have seen Frazier fight Norton, I know Foreman was an absolute beast back then so you can't really use those fights. Not an easy fight for either guy, that's for sure. Frazier is greater though.