Farewell Joe Frazier

RIP Smokin Joe Frasier.

(08-11-2011 15:03 )bigguy01 Wrote:  cooper, frazier and ali in their prime would clean the floor against todays heavyweight boxers.

So would Zora Foley, Karl Mildenburger, Joe Bugner, Ernie Terrell, Cleveland Williams, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Paterson, Brian London and half a dozen others from that era.

Frazier was one of the all time greats and as somebody old enough to remember him flooring Ali in their first fight I can still see the newspaper headline now...."the broken butterfly"!

(09-11-2011 17:14 )mr williams Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 15:03 )bigguy01 Wrote:  cooper, frazier and ali in their prime would clean the floor against todays heavyweight boxers.

So would Zora Foley, Karl Mildenburger, Joe Bugner, Ernie Terrell, Cleveland Williams, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Paterson, Brian London and half a dozen others from that era.

Frazier was one of the all time greats and as somebody old enough to remember him flooring Ali in their first fight I can still see the newspaper headline now...."the broken butterfly"!

One of the best heavyweights of all time, his record speaks for itself.
I'm sure he was once said "Let Ali talk, he's selling the tickets for the fight by himself" or something- I may be wrong (maybe it was Sir Henry Coooper) and it is a shame that Ali never publicly apologised to him.
I'd have loved to seen how Our 'enery (at his best), would have coped with him. Thanks Joe for making some memorable boxing fights truly memorable.

(10-11-2011 07:00 )babelover48 Wrote:  I'd have loved to seen how Our 'enery (at his best), would have coped with him.

Probably not very well. 'Enry's popularity rather blinded people to the fact that at the very highest level he was a little bit lacking. In his best years he was knocked out by Paterson, Johannson and Foley. Sadly for British boxing, the public always blamed Joe Bugner for forcing Cooper into retirement when he took his titles on an infamous points decision in 1971. Cooper was then 38 and it was just one fight too many.

Bugner really was world class. He went the distance with Frazier in 1973 and twice went the distance with Ali. Bugner was once ranked number 4 in the world behind just Ali, Frazier and Foreman but was almost a hate figure in Britain and eventually emigrated a bitter and resentful man.

This will be the best hour and a half you spend. A time when Heavyweight boxing was the best Sport on TV.

All these guys were legends we should enjoy it while we can:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ptSn8W_uQo