Did Joe Frazier Duck The Big Punchers of His Era?

[r.burgundy]

Frazier and Norton were close friends and agreed to never fight.A good thing for Ken Norton.

He was buzy fighting the greatest heavyweight of all-time 3 times when you say he should have fought fostor,lyle,shavers,and norton.I already explained why he didn't fight Noerton.Frazier would have brutaly beat Fostor and Lyle.Only Shavers would have a chance on your list.

i agree he wouldve steam rolled norton also but no way in hell he steam rolls lyle.and just cause your the greatest doesnt mean your the most dangerous.as george an bonaneva showed us,joe was vulnerable to a big punch,and there are a hell of alot more dangerous fighters than ali

and what do you mean he was busy fighting ali 3 times.in between those 3 ali fights he fought 6 times lol.

[prinzemanspopa]

Muhammad Ali beat Mac Foster,and Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali.Joe Frazier would have cleaned Fostor's clock.


Frazier beat up Martin in sparring,and was leap years better than Martin.

Muhammad Ali beat Mac foster because Muhammad Ali,like Jerry Quarry had the guts to fight Mac foster.

Whether frazier would have "cleaned fosters clock" is irrelevant,because frazier never had it in him to step into the ring with him.


Neither you nor I were there to witness these sparring sessions.

Regardless,Martin was a top ten contender and the best heavyweight in the city bar frazier.


A logical matchup would have been Martin against frazier but frazier wanted nothing to do with the puncher unfortunately.

Frazier couldn't take a punch? What are you smoking? George Foreman was the hardest punching heavyweight of all-time! Frazier only had 10 pro fights,and was only fighting a little over a year in the pro's when he got dropped by Bonevena.Muhammad Ali(Who could take the best punch of all-time)was dropped early in his carreer against Sonny Banks,and again by Henry Cooper.Both could not punch like Bonevena.

The difference is that Ali would later prove that he could take a punch.He fought many devastating punchers and took their greatest blows to the cranium,rarely even visiting the canvas.


frazier got put down six times in two rounds by the first and only puncher that he ever fought and then never stepped into the ring with another puncher until a rematch where he was once against crushed by foreman.

[boxing boy]

i agree he wouldve steam rolled norton also but no way in hell he steam rolls lyle.and just cause your the greatest doesnt mean your the most dangerous.as george an bonaneva showed us,joe was vulnerable to a big punch,and there are a hell of alot more dangerous fighters than ali

and what do you mean he was busy fighting ali 3 times.in between those 3 ali fights he fought 6 times lol.

Do you know that when Frazier fought Bonevena he had only been fighting as a pro for about 1 year? Are you aware he only had 10 pro fights? Talk about being green! Foreman was the hardest punching heavyweight champion of all-time!

[Joeyzagz]

Frazier fought in the best era of Heavyweight fighters!

Of course he couldn't rule his era when the greatest heavyweight of all-time fought in his era.

And he fought him on even terms and beat him.

His other loss was to the hardest punching heavyweight of all-time.Who is a top 5 heavyweight of all-time.

You wouldn't rank him in the top 10 because he fought the greatest heavyweight fighter of all-time on even terms over 3 fights,and beat him! And lost to a top 5 heavyweight of all-time?

This is a good argument for Frazier. The fact that his only losses were to top 5 ATGs puts him in a class of his own. Even Ali lost to Spinks, Foreman lost to Young, Frazier never lost to a scrub.

But the reason I can not put him top ten is because their were so many greats of other eras like Sam Langford in the 00's, Johnson in the teens, Dempsey in the 20's, so on, so on. After you get done with the best of each decade your left with, well where do I put Frazier?

[carlos slim]

This is a good argument for Frazier. The fact that his only losses were to top 5 ATGs puts him in a class of his own. Even Ali lost to Spinks, Foreman lost to Young, Frazier never lost to a scrub.

But the reason I can not put him top ten is because their were so many greats of other eras like Sam Langford in the 00's, Johnson in the teens, Dempsey in the 20's, so on, so on. After you get done with the best of each decade your left with, well where do I put Frazier?

frazier only fought 30 times thats why! if he fought as many times as ali he wouldve got his ass handed to him more....

[JAB5239]

The Biggest Punchers of His Era

George Foreman
Ron Lyle
Earnie Shavers
Mac Foster
Ken Norton
Sonny Liston
Cleveland Williams

From the 7 names listed above Frazier only fought Foreman. Taking into account that Foreman was a relative unknown when Frazier first fought him and was seen as a sort of tune-up fight to a rematch with Ali. Frazier himself has admitted several times in interviews that he didn't know Foreman could hit that hard.

Well? Did Frazier's promoters and managers purposely avoid matching him with the Big Hitters?Was Frazier unsure of his chin after he was floored twice by Oscar Bonavena?

Frazier made the best fights possible. Liston and Williams were past it, and Shavers wasn't really relevant till the mid 70's and was proven to be inconsistent against top notch fighters. Besides, Joe was hemmed up at that time with his fights with Ali and Foreman. Both Foster and Lyle could have gotten a shot at Frazier but were soundly beaten by Jerry Quarry, who Frazier fought and beat twice. Some will say he should have fought them anyway. There are two problems with that though. First, when? Second, he was fighting better fighters than either.

[mickey malone]

Frazier ducked nobody.. He took on all-comer's, big or small, punchers and stylists.. Gerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, George Chuvalo, Bob Foster, Ron Stander were all good punchers who were beaten by Frazier.. Ali had 37 KO's and shouldn't be underrated as a puncher either.. A young Frazier was able to mix it up with past primers, Eddlie Machen and Doug Jones after about only 12 or 13 fights, so he was far from fragile.. He was far from scared also, getting back in with Foreman proves that beyond any reasonable doubt.. Leotis Martin was only famous for starching an OAP version of Liston, and Mac Foster was beaten easily by Bugner, so what would a match against Frazier prove?. I believe Frazier would have outclassed and KO'd them both personally.

[BennyST]

He fought Foreman, the biggest puncher and best fighter out of that lot, twice. So no.

[sonnyboyx2]

The Biggest Punchers of His Era

George Foreman
Ron Lyle
Earnie Shavers
Mac Foster
Ken Norton
Sonny Liston
Cleveland Williams

From the 7 names listed above Frazier only fought Foreman. Taking into account that Foreman was a relative unknown when Frazier first fought him and was seen as a sort of tune-up fight to a rematch with Ali. Frazier himself has admitted several times in interviews that he didn't know Foreman could hit that hard.

Well? Did Frazier's promoters and managers purposely avoid matching him with the Big Hitters?Was Frazier unsure of his chin after he was floored twice by Oscar Bonavena?

Joe Frazier heavyweight champion 1968-73 only Foreman was around in the era of Frazier, Liston was past it and the others was after Fraziers time with Shavers being destroyed by Jerry Quarry who Frazier fought twice their 1st fight being FOTY 1969

[prinzemanspopa]

It's not really difficult to understand why futch and durham would want to protect their delicate little flower though,is it?

frazier may not have even worked his way to a title shot had he been placed in the ring with a puncher earlier in his career.