Joe Frazier was the heavyweight champion. An agile in-fighter, he was one of the scariest boxers of all time. His dreadful left hook put Muhammad Ali flat on his back in their fight together (the famous graphic of which appears in the background of your screen right now), earning him a unanimous decision win against the previously undefeated legend. His power was frightening, his movement deceiving, his determination undying. He was undefeated and meant business.
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| Joe Frazier |
George Foreman was a knockout machine. Don't be fooled by the pleasant and jovial George Foreman you see on the ads for his grill--he had a harsh demeanor back in the day with a real chip on his shoulder. He went about his fights with a one dimensional but sure-fire routine: just slug and slug and slug. Doing this he racked up a record of 37-0, most fights of which ended in quick knockout fashion, and was named the number one contender for both belts (only WBA and WBC at the time). This fight would gauge the legitimacy of Big George Foreman.
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| George Foreman ca. present |
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| Big George Foreman |
The two would meet up on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, in a fight billed The Sunshine Showdown. The fight was HBO's first ever boxing broadcast, with the familiar sports personality Howard Cosell commentating. Big George was the underdog. Most were unsure that his chin could sustain the hard blows from Frazier, or that he could land significant shots against the busy Philly fighter. Foreman himself claims that his mother refused to ever watch him box, citing Joe Frazier as her main source of fear. Frazier was just too good.
Indeed, the fight was a blowout, but not in the way most expected. Foreman punished Frazier for 2 brutal rounds. Frazier landed a signature left hook early in the first round, and Foreman reacted as if nothing happened. Ultimately, Foreman's poise during that sequence would tell the tale. In a famous scene, Foreman then proceeded to knock Frazier down.
Smokin' Joe got back up and fought, only to get knocked down twice more in the first round and then three times in the second round before referee Arthur Mercante stopped the fight. From then on Foreman was considered a monster, and Smokin' Joe beatable.
Foreman would go on pulverizing opponents left and right until the famous Rumble In The Jungle, in which Muhammad Ali just as shockingly knocked Foreman out. Joe Frazier had two more fights with Ali, and wound up losing both. Frazier and Foreman would then meet up for a second time in 1976. The fight was fairly even for the first few rounds, before Foreman knocked Frazier out again in the fifth.
Frazier-Foreman I was one of the most surprising mismatches in the history of prizefighting. The famous call by Howard Cosell speaks for itself.
-JD
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