Jimmy Young vs Smokin' Joe Frazier, in their primes.

[Nile4000]

Smokin Joe would stop Jimmy late, using body work to do the trick, around round 13.

[DrDuke]

It's an extremely interesting matchup. I'd favour Frazier without doubting a lot though. In that era Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton seemed to be far ahead of the majority of the others. But Young was pretty close to them. He outclassed Foreman, he had a very close fight with Norton, he made Ali look not so good. However, Frazier was a stylistic nightmare for such slick boxers Young was. Joe was too tough in pressuring the opponents, he had a very special attacking style, an elusive one, I'd say. So, I'm sure, Smokin' Joe would have worn Young down and knocked him out late.

[Chuck1052]

Of all of the top heavyweights of the 1970s, Joe Frazier would be the worst possible opponent for Jimmy Young. Yes, Young had quite a bit of success vs. other sluggers such as George Foreman, Earnie Shavers and Ron Lyle, but Frazier had much, much more stamina than the mentioned fighters in addition to his relentless aggressiveness in the ring. As a result, I feel that Frazier would destroyed Young even though the latter had quite a bit of ring savvy.

- Chuck Johnston

I still stand by every word of my post ten years later.

- Chuck Johnston

[Sidney Carton]

Young lost a unanimous decision to a fat , out of shape , past his prime, thirty four year old two hundred thirty pound Ali who was so disinterested in the fight that he literally wagged his ample buttocks while he was on the ropes and called it the "rolling fanny"...

Joe Frazier would walk through whatever he threw at him the way he walked through Jimmy Ellis' punches in 1970 and knock him out in five rounds ...

Jimmy Young's claim to fame is his 34-19 record, his running out of the ring twice against a morbidly obese Muhammad Ali, losing a split decision to Ken Norton and beating George Foreman who was still smarting from his loss to Muhammad Ali...

Earnie Shaver was a slugger and he dropped Jimmy Young in three rounds...Joe Frazier was a swarmer/slugger...I don't see much hope for him...He's not nearly strong enough to hang with Smokin Joe...

Interesting that Ali fans dislike Young so intensely.

Is that because Young made Ali look so bad.?

[Sidney Carton]

This is a tough one to pick. Young had a very short prime.

Lyle didn't have the same style as Frazier, but he was a big puncher and tried his best to use a body attack against Young.

Young handled Lyle easily in both fights. Much more easily than Foreman or Ali did.

I would not bet on a fight between Young and Frazier.

it would be an interesting fight.

[ron4972]

Frazier would be way too much for Young, if they had fought in their primes. I think that Jimmy -- due to his slipperiness and defense -- might have been able to hang in there until the final bell though.

Frazier by wide UD, but he doesn't look so great chasing Young around.

[Ambling Alp II]

Young was obviously great defensively. At his best he was a great fighter. The Young that fought Lyle, Foreman, and Norton would have given Frazier all that he could handle. My guess is that Frazier wins a decision in a very good fight.