Joe Frazier: The Quintessential Left Hooker

 By Brian Wilbur of www.RingSideReport.com

The punch that “gets you” is the one that you do not see coming.  That statement has been true since the infancy of pugilism.  A sign of true dominance and power is the ability to “get” your opponent even if he knows what is coming.  Very few fighters in the history of boxing have had that ability, but one such man was the legendary Smokin’ Joe Frazier.  When Joe fought he essentially said to his opponent: “I am going to walk you down and throw left hooks all night long.  Try to stop me.”  

Muhammad Ali was on the Arsenio Hall show in 1989 and was asked if he was ever scared of an opponent before a fight.  Ali’s response was, “Joe Frazier.”   Ali and Frazier fought in three classic fights in what is boxing’s most famous and celebrated trilogy.  After 41 brutal rounds together, Ali and Frazier still hated each other, but they had the utmost respect for one another’s boxing talent. 

Joe was not a large man by heavyweight boxing standards.  He stood 5’11 ½ ” and just over 200 pounds in his prime.  Historians compared Frazier to another great heavyweight, Rocky Marciano, during the young champion’s title reign in the early 1970’s.  Smokin’ Joe and The Rock were similar in that they were both short, stocky crouch fighters, crude in technique but still frighteningly effective as heavyweight destroyers.  Neither man was content with winning by decision; they wanted to hurt and knockout their foes.  Out of 32 wins, Joe won 27 by knockout.  Out of Marciano’s 49 wins, 43 were by knockout.  Anyone hit with a clean left hook from Frazier or a “Susie Q” from Rocky Marciano visited the canvas.  The punching power of these two similar former great heavyweight champions will never be in question. 

The second attribute that made Frazier great (the first being his stellar punching power) was his incredible stamina.  Joe had a fighting style that was quite unique despite his physical similarities to boxer’s from the past.  He was interesting to watch because he was always in motion.  His hands, head, legs, shoulders and torso were always in motion and all seemed to be moving in different directions!  We had never seen a fighter move like that before and probably never will again.  An average boxer would not be able to maintain that kind of perpetual motion for more than a round or two without getting tired.  Frazier kept moving and kept coming at his opponents without slowing down for fifteen rounds if he had to.

The only time that Frazier would stop chasing down his challenger is when they would get tired and be forced to stand and fend off Smokin’ Joe.  That is exactly what Joe wanted.  Frazier would love to stand, flat footed in the middle of the ring and plow his sledgehammer of a left hook into his opponent all day in an all out brawl.  That is they way they did it in the sweltering gyms of Philadelphia. 

Very few were ever able to get the better of an exchange with Smokin’ Joe.  Joe would never tire and never slow down.  No heavyweight was able to box or run against Frazier for the duration of a fight because Smokin’ Joe would never stop chasing and he was always the better-conditioned fighter.  Frazier was rugged, resilient, and relentless in his attack.  If you were standing across the ring from him, Joe Frazier was your worst nightmare. 

No wonder Muhammad Ali was scared of him.