Joe Frazier's son Marvis said that his father always had nightmares about that title fight at Kingston Jamaica on 22 January 1973 and woke up screaming.Son Marvis had to calm him down.
Foreman had to be tremendously strong. In the very first round he was "pushing" Frazier off, and consistently keeping him at bay with a punishing jab. Slow starter or not, up to this point no fighter had done that to Joe.
Very True James, I think Foreman is arguably the most powerful Heavyweight boxer of all time, and I believe this young prime Foreman would slaughter the current heavyweights. It took a Super human effort by an extremely skilled warrior like Ali to beat a prime Foreman. For me, Ali will always be The G.O.A.T. with Foreman a close second.
In terms of sheer physical strength & athleticism, Lennox Lewis is up there imo. Manny Steward said he wished he could have trained Foreman, & Lewis was like his 2nd chance at a similar raw talent.
@@theprinceoftides6836foreman is 6ft 3-4 the current roster of heavyweights are like 6ft 7-9 he couldn’t thrown around Tyson fury,wilder,joe Joyce or a prime klitchko and with his terrible cardio he’d tire out and lose in the later rounds
@@theprinceoftides6836 With all due respect, that Ali thing is total bs. A debut form or an old form Foreman would have beat the hell out of Ali. Foreman never fought so badly like he did against Ali. That fight will remain as a mystery for ever. But it wasn't Ali who won that fight. He is the most overrated boxer in history. EDIT: Frazier who won easily against Ali was destroyed by Foreman. Ali's name is a trend. Nothing more. He shouldn't even be in a top10 heavyweight list.
George Foreman is the greatest heavyweight of all time. The fact that he could come back in his 40’s and win the title again demonstrates what a skilled fighter he was. Probably the hardest puncher in history as well.
Hardest puncher, I would agree. However not the greatest heavyweight boxer obviously, 4th in my ranking though. And being champ at 45 is probably the best story in boxing history.
@@AH-bm5xs Who do you put ahead of him? Ali I’m assuming. It’s hard to argue when he beat Foreman in his prime. I definitely understand that. We’ll never know what would have happened had George not left boxing for 10 years while still in his prime. How do you quantify destroying Joe Frazier and fighting Evander Holyfield 20 years later. It’s never been done before.
@@THICCTHICCTHICC Shavers had the most 1 punch power while Foreman had the most all round power,It didnt matter what Foreman hit you with it would hurt,Shavers only had a right hand.
You cannot beat Foreman without a right hand no matter how great your left hook is. Cooney learned that painful lesson. That’s why I give a young Tyson or Lennox Lewis a good chance against a young Foreman. Even Lyle who ended up on the canvas against Foreman, gave George the fight of his life because he could deliver effectively from both sides. Frazier won a lot of his fights by physically dominating and wearing fighters down and ultimately finishing them off with the hook. But against the tremendous power of Foreman, he could not move forward and apply pressure without getting knocked out first.
@@cbatus just saying as great as Frazier's left hook was, he needed his right hand to be a much bigger threat if he was to beat the younger, bigger, and stronger Foreman.
Foreman had so much strength, the way he was pushing and tossing Frazier around the ring. No one ever did that to Frazier before, not even 'The Greatest' himself.
Precisamente por esto fue que la victoria de Ali vs. Foreman fue tan impresionante. Nadie pensó que le iba a ganar a este demoledor de hombres. Miren lo que le hizo a Joe Frazier, increíble. Y así era Big George, increíble. Por eso luego de tantos años volvió del retiro a competir y nunca cayó más a la lona, solo con Ali. Foreman, una bestia gigante, que los golpes no parecían afectarles y sus golpes eran tan pesados que eran capaces de tumbar a un elefante. Un gran tipo también. Gracias a estas 2 leyendas por darnos tantos momentos gratos en el deporte del box!
foreman's got a really unique style. He reaches, which you're not supposed to do, but he's trying to trap and parry hands or hold their shoulders, get to an angle, and then blast the body. He shoves frazier back over and over, like holyfield did to beat tyson and offset that forward pressure bob and weave style. you can see who has power by watching carefully, especially seeing someone up close on a heavy bag. it's crystal clear who's got power, and how much. Foreman's got tremendous follow through. Not great speed, but he compensates by punching very far through the target, his rotational speed doesn't decelerate as fast as others do, his punches continue penetrating into people longer, and you can see it, clearly. And that's what made him special. Power seems to be created by speed, up until contact, and thereafter it's the follow through that matters and transfers damage into the target. There's 2 components I can see to it. When I watch Tyson hit, he doesn't have foreman's level of follow through, although tyson does have more than more still in that regard... but Tyson's power comes as much from his speed as his follow through. Even though Foreman isn't really fast, he doesn't require much to any wind up nor loading to be able to punch from any angle with crushing power. His punches can be super short and still damaging. Not much tell in any of his strikes except his huge full power looping shots he uses to finish hurt opponents sometimes, when the tell doesn't matter as much. Has a good jab too.
OMG just to watch this raw again. Young George was a freaking beast with speed and power. He was also very accurate in his punch delivery. Bone crunching whole body power behind those shots.
@@hamdanjantan399 Yeah true and he was still all that when he met Ali. Ali was a rare boxing legend, gotta say. He wasn't intimidated, knew exactly how to move, I mean he had to stay away from Sonny Liston right? LOL. And Ali took some viscously hard blows from Foreman. Ali was truly amazing. His timing was on display in that 1974 bout for sure.
I was about 11 or 12 years old back in those years and was living in tehran , Iran and we had 3 T.V. station in those years and all of them would shut down about 11 pm . 2 chanel in persian and one in american because we had around 10000 american living in tehran alone . I didn't understand English but would watch western movies and wrestling matches with my dad at late night . Ali was such a great icon in Iran and everyone love him over there and the persian T.V. chanel would open up 2 or 3 am in order to broadcast Ali 's fights live in Iran ( because of time difference ) I mean just imagine how big Ali was in Iran . Since my teenage life I build great love for america and now I have been living in U.S. for more than four decade .
Styles makes fights, Foreman was strong enough to push Joe off balance with his gloves. Joe couldn't get a rythym or fight backing up. Foreman threw short devastating punches in this fight. His best performance.Calm and poised at 24. Trained for this fight by the, "Old Mongoose". Archie Moore
I find it interesting that Big George was allowed to push Joe Frazier away from him, making room for him to throw big punches and stop Frazier from getting inside. Big George actually used this technic quite a bit in his career.
Watching this again shows both Foreman and Frazier's weaknesses. Frazier showed no defensive skills at all. Never once tried to tie up Foreman and buy himself time to clear his head. Instead he kept getting up and going back for more beating.
Well, actually, Joe did try to get inside, but Foreman kept pushing him away, which is clearly against the rules and because Mercante never sanctioned Foreman, he kept pushing so Joe never had a chance to tie him up . . . not that it would have made much difference. Take three shots to deliver one is fine against Jerry Quarry . . . not such a sound tactic versus Foreman.
Both players're the greatest boxer being off the win or defeat. Specially, Frazier's capacity was a strong but was misfortune boxer. Although, two times defeated with KO against Forman. And he's passed away Please accept our sinsere condolence. God bless you.
The fight should have been stopped In the first round with :15 seconds left. It was very apparent that George was in great shape because he didn't let up after the first knockdown. I know Arthur Mercante is criticized for George holding Joe but Joe was leading with his head and Arthur had no choice but let the two fight It out.
I agree. The three knockdown rule should have been in effect. Frazier was actually saved by the bell in the first round. He was so disoriented that Durham had to carry him back to his corner.
I agree with you Davan, Arthur Mercante Sr was a world class referee however I don't know what he was thinking about allowing this fight to continue particularly following the 5th knockdown in the 2nd round. I think Mercante was a little peeved with Angelo Dundee screaming at ringside to "Stop the fight". Mercante seemed the kind of guy who had an ego the size of Manhattan however understanding the type of puncher that George Foreman is and realizing that you give the champion a chance to recover and comeback I think this was a little bit much.
I mean he was giving chances for the champ to recover. Did it go on too long? Of course. But it’s easy for us to say knowing the result. Both fighters were undefeated so it’s hard to tell what eachother we’re capable of.
There will never be another boxer and warrior like Smoking Joe Frazier from Philadelphia. Continued R.I.P. in heaven Joe! In my eyes you were the best boxer I’ve seen in my life of 69 years!
Joe Frazier liked to fight inside but George Foreman wouldn't let him. George kept pushing Joe back out of his comfort zone, giving George enough room to throw his long powerful punches.
@@scatmann5839 the common theme among the best boxers of all time like Ali,Frazier,Louis,Robinson is they were all prepared to sacrifice a part of themselves in the ring.
Stylistically Foreman was a nightmare for the smaller Frazier. Awesomely strong, pure power puncher and able to walk through the straight ahead Frazier. Brutal display but wow Joe had the heart of a lion.
It makes you understand why no one believed Mohammed Ali could beat Foreman in 10-30-1975, no one but the most fanatical Ali fan. ALL experts were giving Foreman as winner and it puts into perspective Ali's great accomplishment.
LOL!!! Damn! where was the smoke in Smokin Joe? i bet Foreman must have believed he was playing basketball with Joe obviously being the ball, this no doubt is one of the top five most humiliating heavyweight defeats of all time, funny how fanatics act, the claim Big George couldn't keep Frazier down on the canvas is the most ridiculous of all excuses, the man couldn't even last two rounds with a challenger, he was so dazed he didn't even know where he was most of the fight, a Mack truck vs a Kia picanto, no contest
All boxers have heart.The gr8 JF fought GF twice,like the gr8 Floyed Patterson.FP fought Sonny Liston twice.Both are beyond brave,they were the most brave.Both had no fear.
Foreman literally may have put Joe in a comatose state if the Ref hadn’t stopped it… Props to Angelo Dundee for begging him to stop it. Go watch some of Joe‘s interviews years later. The man sounds like he’s drunk all the time. Getting hit in the head like that ain’t no joke. R.I.P. Smokin Joe Frazier .. Thank you 🙏🏼
Frazier at that point hadn't fought any of the 3 hardest punchers - Foreman, Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers. Eventually, one of them.was going to knock him out . . .
@@connshawnery6489 what’s Angie got to do with my comment? Foreman pointed at yank and said stop it or I’m gonn kill him right before the ref gives the wave and gf raises his arms. Foreman said it I can read lips maybe watch the part again or something.
Not a true boxing fan, huh,listen to Anglo Dundee scream stop the fight and Ferdie Pacheco say he’s going to kill him,see George say it to Joe’s corner, twice , something George denied, that helped Joe’s corner stop it , it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this of him saying it .
Down goes Frazier, Down goes Frazier Down goes Frazier. I once saw the fight with a different commentator & the footage was less enthralling as a result!
Frazier just was no match for the power of Foreman.....4:58 was damn embarrassing it look like Frazier survival instinct kick in and was running away from danger....
Running away rather than trying up Foreman. Notice Foreman never fought well on the inside. He always looked for space to unload his bombs. Ali was right about him and his lack of style.
@@scatmann5839 Foreman does have style. He can clinch well and maintain distance by Framing ( Notice him pushing Fraziers shoulders) Stiff arming And pushing. Clinching is one of his strenghts actually, he moved anyone where he wanted them to be.
If you listed closely in the few minutes of the fight you can hear some yelling "Stop it, stop the fight". That was Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali’s trainer. You can tell by the concern in his voice that he was really worried for Joe Frazier’s well being at this point.
@@beatlejim64 tyson had much better defense than frazier. But also a weaker chin. I think a prime tyson would have had a very hard time against a prime foreman.
I watched these bouts on TV as a child, here in the UK. Always amazing that Norton and Ali could go 15 rounds, and Ali's jaw is broken. Frazier and Ali go 15 rounds and almost kill each other three times. Foreman KOs both Norton and Foreman in less than two rounds. Ali knocks out Foreman. Great men from the greatest era in boxing.
Foreman for sure. Tyson wasn't that much of a Technical fighter, he always relied on brute force in his fights. And in case of Foreman, he was Much Stronger than Tyson. So, no doubt, Tyson was getting his ass knocked-out within the first 5 rounds.
@@swami1 Similar but Mike is much more evasive and light on his feet than Smokin Joe was. Joe had a mean Bob and weave game but Iron Mikes footwork when on his game is pretty good. Better Mobility to me.
