Posted on 02/26/2021 7:42:39 AM PST by OneVike
It was a short fight that lasted only 7 minutes, but it was a classic, because it shocked the world. Frazier was supposed to win. Instead the boxing World finally had to admit that Foreman's punches were devastating.
George Foreman, and Joe Frazier are two world class boxers who's careers extended through the end of the golden age of boxing. They both gave credit to our Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation when they were at the height of their careers, and never wavered from their faith.
So, it's only fitting I share this classic boxing match on my blog for you. Two of God's gladiators going at it in the ring. Anyone remember this January 22, 1973 heavyweight title match between then Champion Joe Frazier and the challenger George Foreman?
I was 16 at the time, and it wasn't covered on the radio, because by that time there was too much money to be made off of the new pay per view thing they called HBO. I remember older boxing fans I knew being angry, because before HBO you could catch the great fights on radio. To them, HBO killed what was great about boxing.
Mind you, this was the early "70"s so the vast majority of Americans still used rabbit ears to get a good picture. Cable was still in it's early stages, and unless you lived in or at least near a bigger city you were out of luck. I grew up In Duluth MN, but not only those in the downtown area had access. So all of a sudden, we had to wait for the paper to to give us all the information on a big fight. It would eventually be televised on The Wide World of Sports.
Well, the fight lasted only two rounds, with George Foreman scoring a technical knockout at 1:35 of the second round. In a huge upset, he become the new Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. These two men, and a few other boxing greats, of the time, were heroes to me. Two of the greatest, and unlike so many today, or like Ali of their time, these two men were humble and gracious to everyone. I stumbled upon this video looking for something else on an old HD I use for storage. So I decided to share it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
George Foreman and Joe Frazier fought twice, the one George took the belt from Joe in the 1973 fight, and a rematch in 1976 that Frazier lost to George by another TKO. They were opponents twice, but never rivals. They had the utmost respect for each other, and their friendship lasted to the day Frazier died.
Their bond was so close that when Frazier died, Foremen could not bring himself to see his friend buried. George's explanation for not attending the service was, in his words, “I loved this one,” referring to his two-time opponent.
George Foreman is the last surviving boxer from that great era. His respect for Frazier was unrivaled in how he looked at other boxing greats. He stated that Frazier was the only opponent he was ever afraid of, and his praise continued by calling Frazier “a machine, a giant killer.”
An amazing fight. But personally, I miss the old 80s Tyson fights!
thank you for posting
SIX knockdowns!
What a fight. A few observations.
Round 1 Frazier had some good connections. Great hand speed. He was in it....for half the round.
Foreman’s physical dominance is just overwhelming. Amazing physique. Length of arms, his wide stance. This dude is like a Greek statue. His comeback years are so etched in our memories and while he was obviously amazing then, also....he wasn’t the physical specimen that he was at this time.
By the second round, Foreman’s domination was unstoppable. Poor Frazier took some punishing shots.
Thanks again for posting. Loved it!
The big guy's on my counter right now.
I admire both men.
Frazier was “Smokin Joe” and his greatest fight was his Miami victory over Cassius Clay in 15 fierce rounds.
Foreman made buckets of money with his Lean Mean Grillin Machine. As a very young man he proudly waved the flag during his Olympic victory while some other athletes were giving the Black Power salute during the medal ceremonies. My favorite Foreman fight was when he rose from the canvass to beat a tough Ron Lyle in a non-title match. That fight was a bloody five rounds and at one point it looked like a Lyle victory as Foreman barely made it to his feet.
When We Were Kings: Best boxing movie evah.
Why was this era the “Golden Age of Boxing”? A seven minute fights not much of a fight. Sure, Foreman punched hard, so did Mike Tyson.
Why was boxing almost absent from sports coverage throughout the decade of the 00’s when Wladimir and Vassily Klitsco dominated it. Is boxing only “golden” when Americans dominate it?
The same could be asked bout the 1990s, and Lenox Lewis’s domination of the sport in that decade.
Lewis was a three-time heavyweight champion, same as Ali. Lewis was a Olympic Gold Medalist, same as Ali. His combined three reigns tally 3086 days, one of the longest in boxing history. Lewis successfully defended his heavyweight title 14 times. Wladimir Klitsco successfully defended 23 times.
Frasier won 10 defenses. Foreman 5.
I’m starting to think as Boomers fade from the scene there is going to be a lot of shuffling on the “best heavyweights” list. Who knows, Ali might even end up under Joe Louis.
I know I’m in the minority on this. Maybe it’s like music: the era of three-channel TV meant there could be bigger stars than the era of 10 million YouTube channels. What music event will ever equal the Beatles in Shea Stadium for novelty and massive press coverage?
But Boxing has a longer history, in both directions, than Classic Rock. So, it’s not exactly the same.
Maybe it’s all down to “fighters who had fights called by Howard Cosell”?
Yes he was amazing. Unstoppable actually. Most of his title fights ended early.
Later Ali, who is one of the smartest boxers ever, used the fact George had not been pushed against him. He figured his big body would ware down if one could lay past the fist 5 rounds.
So used the ripedbtonhisvafvsbtahebandvrrsfird homself to take a punishment hoping the leaning into the belts would lesson Foreman’s hits.
It worked, George punched himself out and could barely lift his arms in the Kate rounds
By then he was a sitting duck fir Ali to take out.
Ellis used the same tactic. In Ellises early years he was Ali’s soaring partner and paid attention to the master in how to take advantage of a boxers weakness
Should have been stopped after the 3d knockdown.
I think it had a lot to do with the radio fights. Back then you listened and so the announcers carried the fights sometimes better than the boxers did
It’s amazing how television had destroyed many great sports
Look at the major league sports, television had caused them to change the rules to get better audiences.
I’ll add Tyson in the greats, but there was a time of no name champions.
Middle weights stated getting better play ad then the boxing groups split up and like wresting were different champions at the same time
I won’t disagree that every generation sees things differently, and I’m 64 do my heroes were the ones of the 60d and the 70 s while I was growing up
No, back then they were used to seeing boxers take a beating
You should watch some old Marciano fights
In today’s world Marciano never would have made it to a title fight
Today’s rules have made boxing a joke the way they stop fights
Two other things that happened on January 22, 1973:
Lyndon Johnson died
Roe v. Wade was decided
Wow, never knew that.
Vaaady intudestine
"ripedbtonhisvafvsbtahebandvrrsfird" ?
Did this fight in Jamaica have a name?
Like “Thrilla in Manila” or “Bungle in the Jungle”?
I meant “The Rumble in the Jungle”. “Bungle in the Jungle” was a Jethro Tull song....
The Sunshine Showdown took place on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, with Foreman dominating the fight to win the championship by TKO. In ABC's rebroadcast, Howard Cosell made the memorable call, "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!"
AND it says so on Onevike’s poster picture in the thread opener.
Sorry, getting old...
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