Why did it take Frazier 3 years to give Ali a rematch?

[boxingbuff]

After the Fight of the Century why did it take Frazier 3 years to give Ali a rematch?

The whole world wanted a rematch!

The Fight of the Century lived up to it's billing,and everyone wanted to see a rematch,and right away in 1971.Why did Frazier wait 3 long years to give Muhammad Ali a rematch?

Your thoughts and comments......

[Sugarj]

No two ways about it the Ali fight in March 71 took alot out of Frazier........he was out of the ring until early 1972 and that year he only fought fringe contenders Daniels and Stander.

By early 1973 Foreman had destroyed him. No one can blame Frazier for not wanting to jump straight in the ring with Ali straight after this loss, so Frazier had to regroup and thus fought Ali a year later in 1974.

If by chance Frazier had got by Foreman I think we'd have saw a return fight in the making for mid 1973, problem is........Ali lost to Norton this year. There is every chance that Norton would have got the title shot against Frazier and not Ali. Hell, Norton beat Ali to the title shot against Foreman.

Shame, but destiny held that 1974 was to be the year.

[boxingbuff]

No two ways about it the Ali fight in March 71 took alot out of Frazier........he was out of the ring until early 1972 and that year he only fought fringe contenders Daniels and Stander.

By early 1973 Foreman had destroyed him. No one can blame Frazier for not wanting to jump straight in the ring with Ali straight after this loss, so Frazier had to regroup and thus fought Ali a year later in 1974.

If by chance Frazier had got by Foreman I think we'd have saw a return fight in the making for mid 1973, problem is........Ali lost to Norton this year. There is every chance that Norton would have got the title shot against Frazier and not Ali. Hell, Norton beat Ali to the title shot against Foreman.

Shame, but destiny held that 1974 was to be the year.

But why didn't Frazier give Ali a rematch the remainder of 1971 and 1972?

The whole world was wanting a rematch!

[TheGreatA]

Frazier was in bad shape after the FOTC. 1972 was basically a year off for him, Stander and Daniels were not serious opposition and Frazier barely trained for those fights, and as a result looked quite bad against both.

[CarlosG815]

Frazier was in bad shape after the FOTC. 1972 was basically a year off for him, Stander and Daniels were not serious opposition and Frazier barely trained for those fights, and as a result looked quite bad against both.

I dunno. I watched the Stander fight not too long ago and it seemed that Frazier made easy work of him. Didn't KO him as quick as he should have but Stander looked worn down before the end of the 3rd round. He did KO him in under 6 IIRC.

[Snopkins]

He wasn't sure if Ali was washed up yet.They were supposed to fight in the fall of 1972 after Ali had fought virtually every other top heavyweight in the division and beat them while frazier was ducking,avoiding and cherry picking.


Ali was stupid enough to give him a rematch some twenty months when frazier arguably hadn't done enough to deserve one after being beaten so decisively and failing to rid the division of all other top contenders.


Ali is as much to blame for frazier leeching off of his legacy as frazier is.

[TheGreatA]

I dunno. I watched the Stander fight not too long ago and it seemed that Frazier made easy work of him. Didn't KO him as quick as he should have but Stander looked worn down before the end of the 3rd round. He did KO him in under 6 IIRC.

Stander made a fight out of it for 3 rounds though. He got Frazier's attention with a strong right hand in the first round. Frazier did not seem to be in peak form in my opinion.



I do think it was a more polished performance than his previous one against Daniels, which he dominated, but was also hit in:



Frazier years previously:





Against Stander/Daniels level fighter:



Stander by the way is probably the worst boxer I've ever seen, defensively. The man was a human punching bag but a tough punching bag he was.

[sonnyboyx2]

Frazier was almost killed with the punishment he took in FOTC he then went on a world-tour with his Blues Band "The Knockouts" after beating journeymen Daniels & Stander.. he was 15lbs overweight when he fought Foreman in Jamaica and it showed, his body was `fleshy`and he had an ass like the back end of a bus.. Frazier`s performance against Ali in Manilla was 2 old warriors fighting flat-footed which made him look half-decent

[Rolling Stone]

He wasn't sure if Ali was washed up yet.They were supposed to fight in the fall of 1972 after Ali had fought virtually every other top heavyweight in the division and beat them while frazier was ducking,avoiding and cherry picking.


Ali was stupid enough to give him a rematch some twenty months when frazier arguably hadn't done enough to deserve one after being beaten so decisively and failing to rid the division of all other top contenders.


Ali is as much to blame for frazier leeching off of his legacy as frazier is.

you're right about Ali fighting every other notable heavyweight whilst Frazier fought 2 bums...but thats cause Ali gave Frazier a beating of a lifetime....

did you se frazier's face after their first fight?? looked like the elephant man

[Sugarj]

Hi Boxingbuff, the reason it didn't happen in the remainder of 71 was that the first fight made Frazier very ill. He had serious blood pressure issues, Sonnyboyx has said in the past that Frazier lapsed into a coma too.

It took nearly a year to get him into something like fight shape and felt he needed the tuneups with Daniels and Stander before returning to true world class.