Ali vs. Frazier: the Fight of the Century

[QueensburyRules]

Source for the Brenner claim?

- -One of the dozens of Ali bios I maniacally read in book stores over the years.

Teddy is quoted, so that made a big impression as Brenner seldom gets mentioned in bios.

[Rusty Tromboni]

My impression is that boxing fans generally feel the Ali/Frazier fights were better and tougher than the Ali/Foreman fights. Does that seem true to you?

Yet Ali/Foreman holds a larger place in the popular imagination, is more well-known, talked about, and beloved to casuals and non-boxing people. I have my own thoughts, but why do you think this is the case?

Styles make fights.

Frazier battered Ali.

Foreman batter Frazier (even worse).

Ali battered Foreman.

Ali, technically, bested Frazier and Norton. Everyone knows that's bullshyte. But the official tally helps people to sleep at night.

Ali beating Foreman (who claims to have avoided Jerry Quarry, cuz again: stlyes) told the public that Ali was the best.

Just like the public continues to vaunt pre-exile Ali over the guy who showed up to MSG in 1971 - fresh off stoppages of Quarry and Bonavena, no less. Even after that beatdown, Ali's rematch with Quarry was even more impressive than the first win, AND everything else he did pre-exile.

People buy into myth. In fact, they WANT it. Have you never heard of Herakles?