Ali vs Frazier 1. The score cards

Yeah, but they weren't using the 10-point must system.

Either way Frazier wins. I thought he won anyway, clearly.

 

As much as I admire Ali and his achievements, It would be fair to say that Smokin' Joe won the fight fair and square. It wasn't a one-sided blowout, and Ali may well have underestimated his opponent prior to the fight, but Joe won none the less.

 

Frazier won it alright.

 

Frazier won the fight...no question...Ali couldn't do a thing with him on that night...

 

Frazier by 9 - 6.

 

Anywhere between 8-7 and 9-6 for Joe.

 

Really even considering Frazier won more rounds bigger, who else thinks it COULD have been scored as close as 8-7?

 

Unlike their other two bouts Joe established his hook early in fight 1. He had little trouble hitting Ali with it and it won for him a number of the early rounds. To me it was a clear Frazier win with the knockdown in round 15 just adding an exclamation point. It was quite the shame that Ali took the spotlight from Joe by claiming it was a bad decision and that the white judges took the victory from him. Many believed this hokum as reality. I always wondered if the Frazier from fight one fought the Ali from fight three how the outcome would be different? Joe was a machine that night in 71.

 

To look at it another way, there were 9 rounds which were scored for Ali by at least one judge, plus a tenth which one judge scored even. So while most of us would agree that Frazier deserved the decision, it's not as outlandish as all that to score it for Ali.

 

Ali was a little more than five months removed from a three and a half year layoff (he came back in late October 1970 and fought Frazier in early March 1971) ... and Ali's case was about to go before the Supreme Court.

If he'd lost his appeal, he would've sat in prison until 1976 and never would've faced Frazier.

The fact that a guy who was on his last appeal (to the highest court in the land) and had only been back in the ring for five months fought so well against a prime Frazier speaks volumes.

If Ali had waited until after the Supreme Court decision (he couldn't, because he needed the money to pay his legal fees and leave his wife something), and he fought Frazier in late 1971, after the Ellis fight, I think he beats Frazier cleanly (like he did in fight 2).

There's a reason that's the only fight Frazier won. And Joe was still beaten half to death in the process. He was never the same again after that.

 

There are a lot of "IFs" here.

IF it had been scored via the points system. IF the referee scored a knockdown in the 11th.

IF the fight had been 12 rounds, it would've been a split decision - with the referee actually giving the fight to Ali.

It was what it was. A hotly contested, close but clear win for Frazier. If that fight had been awarded to Ali - as it was fought - it would be considered one of the worst decisions and probably would've brought an end to the rounds system in New York much sooner.

The knockdown in round 15 settled matters in the minds of most - even though - using the New York system at the time - it meant little. Scoring by rounds is an awful system.

 

Horsesh*t,

ONE KD

Close fight

Frazier won.


8-7
8-6-1
9-6

all acceptable scores.