Frazier-Shavers
Shavers didn't have what it took. Not tough enough, it's just that simple. He didn't have Foreman's intensity or two-fisted assault, & wouldn't be able to finish if --- if he got his man in trouble. I say one of Frazier's left hooks puts him on queer street early, & Shavers loses the fight right there, never really recovering. Frazier ends it in four.
Frazier TKO4 Shavers
Frazier-Lyle
A stronger, more even-handed fighter than Shavers, with big power of his own, & more durability. Boxed a little when he should've been slugging, & had a habit of dropping his hands. Not one of Frazier's more gruelling nights, but not an easy one, either. Lyle's petrol tank lets him down in the end. He doesn't budge from his corner as the bell rings for the tenth.
Frazier TKO9 Lyle
Frazier-Liston
Watch through your fingers. No one runs head-long onto that jab (& the hook behind it, not to mention the overhand right --- perfect for a low fighter) & survives it. It lasts a little longer than the Jamaican massacre, & has fewer knockdowns, but the outcome is never in serious doubt.
Liston TKO4 Frazier
Frazier-Patterson
I think Patterson's handspeed does give Frazier problems --- I really do. However, this is a fight where D'Amato & the pro-Patterson contingent of the arena need to hold their breath, awaiting the punch which will send their man, if not out, then on his way. It comes in the fourth, with Patterson hitting the deck. Two more knockdowns in the sixth &, to Patterson's chagrin, the referee pulls him out of there. I think he's competitive in spurts with Frazier.
Frazier TKO6 Patterson
Frazier-Moore
As much as anything, Moore ran into troubled waters with the similar Marciano because of work-rate. He gets no breaks against Frazier, either, who did some things better than Marciano did. I have to think it's a question of volume. Moore was one tough nut to crack, & he'd hang in there, after sweeping the early rounds (to the surprise of some), but a fight with Frazier is a fight 'till the death...usually, the death of his adversary. This one won't be an exception.
Frazier TKO8 Moore
Frazier-Charles
This one is trickier. Charles was quicker & more versatile than Moore, & he could take it when he had to, too. I still think this is Frazier's fight over fifteen gruelling rounds, but over ten or twelve, it's getting close on those scorecards. I have to think Charles can't quite make fifteen, not against Frazier's body assault.
Frazier TKO13 Charles
Joe Walcott
Walcott hasn't the durability to make it. He did a number on Marciano for a while, & that, when he was past his peak (though, to be fair to Marciano, he did find some vintage form that night). Frazier's quicker with his hands & similarly damaging with his punches as Marciano, & probably has better footwork. Walcott had the tools to win, & perhaps even would in a twelve-rounder (maybe one from three or four), but I question his ability to survive the war. Charles had him down, among others. I think Frazier's left hooks gets him in the end, after the bodywork slows him.
Frazier TKO11 Walcott
Frazier-Louis
Not a great fight for Frazier. Here's my problem --- Louis gets off first, with faster hands & a greater wingspan. I just can't pick against Louis in a fight where I think he's going to get off first. He kills anyone in history in that scenario. Chappy would've known Frazier was vulnerable early, & prepped Louis accordingly for a first-round blitz. Frazier never really recovers from the two knockdowns in round one, & is just battered at the end of the fourth. Louis drops him hard in the fifth, &, after wobbling him into the corner shortly thereafter, a bruised & swollen Frazier is pulled from the fight by the referee.
Louis TKO5 Frazier
Frazier-Johnson
Ties Frazier in knots at times, & finds a home for his under-rated straight right hand, but really never saw anything like the pressure Frazier brings, & wilts accordingly. Great fight in spurts --- boring in others, as Johnson attempts to neutralise Frazier's buzzsaw assault with wrestling tactics. A left hook in the eleventh puts paid to that.
Frazier TKO11 Johnson
A favourable record of
7-
2-0, with 7 KO's
