What if Ali-Frazier I Were Held Today?

[SenorPipino]

With the 2013 version of the supposed Fight of the Century just a few weeks away in Las Vegas, I was wondering how the true Fight of the Century (Version 1971) would compare today on pay-per-view.
Estimates for the upcoming Mayweather-Alvarez fight indicate Floyd will earn more than $50 million, while the Mexican star will pocket around $13 million.
Ali and Frazier, 42 years ago, famously split a then jawdropping $5 million down the middle.
And amazingly,there were no endless and fruitless months (years??) of dragged out negotiations like we might experience today (think Mayweather-Pacquiao).
Time Magazine pictured them on the cover, breathlessly heralding them as The $5 Million Fighters, an then unheard of sum for 2 boxers. Of course today, Mayweather wouldn't roll out of bed for $5 million, especially if he had to split it.
Closed-circuit tickets at upscale clubs went for as high as $50. Most arenas and theatres charged between $15 and $30.
Just a year earlier, a theatre broadcast of Frazier-Ellis only cost me $5.
PPV prices for Mayweather-Canelo are $65 and $75. Closed-circuit in Las Vegas goes for $100.
Ali-Frazier was huge money, huge interest. It transcended sports. The personalities and talents involved were beyond compare. The world was definately watching.
But despite predictions that Mayweather-Canelo may shatter the all-time PPV record of 2.4 million buys, it will barely cause a ripple of interest among non-boxing fans.

So in comparing the heavyweight championship megafight to the Sept. 14 superwelter clash, I wonder 3 things:
If Ali-Frazier I were held today:
How many pay-per-view buys would it generate? (Of course it sets a record, but how many?)

What would the PPV telecast pricetag be?

And finally, how much money would Frazier and Ali be guaranteed for their supreme heavyweight showdown?

[BoxBuzz]

If Manny would have held up, we might actually have something to compare it against.

[elmersalsa]

Ali vs Frazier would be too much. But, it would be to a lesser degree because now, fighters only fight 12 rounds.

Also, there are many things that people do today like web surfing or watching cable tv. There are more things to do now. But I can see $50 million for both fighters if they fought today.

[p4p1]

Very hard to answer really because of the circumstances that led to the fight being so unique, Ali's exile war and civil rights stances being a big part of what made him so popular and hated, not to mention they would probably be fighting at cruiser if they weighed the same in 2013 maybe I am just trying to overanalyse things.

[SenorPipino]

Very hard to answer really because of the circumstances that led to the fight being so unique, Ali's exile war and civil rights stances being a big part of what made him so popular and hated, not to mention they would probably be fighting at cruiser if they weighed the same in 2013 maybe I am just trying to overanalyse things.

Why would they be fighting at Cruiser? Ali weighed 215 for the fight. I believe Joe was 205.
With today's nutrition and conditioning programs, they'd each be 10-15 pounds heavier.
Tyson wasn't any bigger than Frazier heightwise. Would he be a cruiser?
And Ali was 6'3". One of the bigger heavies of the 60s and 70s until guys like Foreman and Holmes came around to match him.
No, Ali and Frazier would be solid heavies today and the 2 best out there.

[p4p1]

Very hard to answer really because of the circumstances that led to the fight being so unique, Ali's exile war and civil rights stances being a big part of what made him so popular and hated, not to mention they would probably be fighting at cruiser if they weighed the same in 2013 maybe I am just trying to overanalyse things.

Why would they be fighting at Cruiser? Ali weighed 215 for the fight. I believe Joe was 205.
With today's nutrition and conditioning programs, they'd each be 10-15 pounds heavier.
Tyson wasn't any bigger than Frazier heightwise. Would he be a cruiser?
And Ali was 6'3". One of the bigger heavies of the 60s and 70s until guys like Foreman and Holmes came around to match him.
No, Ali and Frazier would be solid heavies today and the 2 best out there.

I said if they weighed the same as they did in 1971. 205 - 215 is a easy cut to 200lbs with a 24 hour weigh in. I am well aware that he was a bigger HW in his day but he wouldn't be all that big now if he was the same size. They might be bigger now because they may have had better nutrition growing up a few decades making them a bigger adult. I don't think modern conditioning makes them any bigger unless they really want to be if they were the same height as they were in 1971 because of the amount of cardio you need to do to fight it does make putting on size very hard. Like I said I could be overanalysing it all.

[loaded_gloves]

Sigh.

These great great fighters of yesteryear who got into peak physical condition would make these fat 240lb lumps gas and collapse. If anything they would engender a rethink and force all these overweight heavyweights to actually boil down into some semblence of athletic condition. And then we might actually have action again, pace, fast paced heavyweight fights of epic proportions - like Frazier/Ali I.

How many times do we need to see talent win out over girth to comprehend that in boxing talent is more important?

Oh god it will never end with weirdos on the internet, will it? Big titted mastodon bicep freaks lumbering slowly around forever, that's what the people want, give them that, have them, enjoy them, let us all rewatch Vitali Klit vs Corrie Sanders and Sam Peter for the rest of our days. Flab forever. Flabever.

[p4p1]

Sigh.

These great great fighters of yesteryear who got into peak physical condition would make these fat 240lb lumps gas and collapse. If anything they would engender a rethink and force all these overweight heavyweights to actually boil down into some semblence of athletic condition. And then we might actually have action again, pace, fast paced heavyweight fights of epic proportions - like Frazier/Ali I.

How many times do we need to see talent win out over girth to comprehend that in boxing talent is more important?

Oh god it will never end with weirdos on the internet, will it? Big titted mastodon bicep freaks lumbering slowly around forever, that's what the people want, give them that, have them, enjoy them, let us all rewatch Vitali Klit vs Corrie Sanders and Sam Peter for the rest of our days. Flab forever. Flabever.

[SenorPipino]

Sigh.

These great great fighters of yesteryear who got into peak physical condition would make these fat 240lb lumps gas and collapse. If anything they would engender a rethink and force all these overweight heavyweights to actually boil down into some semblence of athletic condition. And then we might actually have action again, pace, fast paced heavyweight fights of epic proportions - like Frazier/Ali I.

How many times do we need to see talent win out over girth to comprehend that in boxing talent is more important?

Oh god it will never end with weirdos on the internet, will it? Big titted mastodon bicep freaks lumbering slowly around forever, that's what the people want, give them that, have them, enjoy them, let us all rewatch Vitali Klit vs Corrie Sanders and Sam Peter for the rest of our days. Flab forever. Flabever.

I thought I was reading Dennis Miller, but well said.

Too many of today's fans are infatuated with size. If you're not 240, trim down to the cruiserweight division.
Heavies got really big in the 1980s. How good were the majority of those hippo contenders?
In boxing size isn't everything. Talent always speaks loudest.
Millions and millions didn't witness Ali-Frazier I because they wanted to see the biggest guys around. They watched because on display was the greatest talent around.

[HomicideHenry]

If Ali was 10-15 pounds heavier, he wouldnt be nearly as fast as he was at 215 pounds lol, and Frazier would be slower than molasses. Dont try and fit these guys into 'modern methods' because all we would have is two fat hippos in the ring.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

One of them would be with TR & the other with GBP. We'd be unlikely to see it.

[BoxBuzz]

Modern times require entirely new thinking.

There needs to be two new weight classes.

Super Heavy and the Lard Ass Division.

[p4p1]

Modern times require entirely new thinking.

There needs to be two new weight classes.

Super Heavy and the Lard Ass Division.

That seems to be one of the good things about MMAs HW limit is it makes it so guys have to be in shape to make the limit, Though I can think of a shitload of HW's who would still be fat as fornicate and make the limit.

[Oswald]

The ref would stop in the 11th.

[HomicideHenry]

Modern times require entirely new thinking.

There needs to be two new weight classes.

Super Heavy and the Lard Ass Division.

That seems to be one of the good things about MMAs HW limit is it makes it so guys have to be in shape to make the limit, Though I can think of a shitload of HW's who would still be fat as eff and make the limit.

It is ironic that in the 1920's boxing experts wanted there to be a 'Drednaught' division for guys like Primo Carnera to compete in, because they felt it was unfair for 200 pound men to fight guys in excess of 250 pounds. This concept was later revitalised in the 1960's and 1970's where Buster Mathis became the first "Super Heavyweight" champion, when he kayoed Claude Humphrey McBride. Unfortunately, I think the image of a Super Heavyweight division is forever tarnished due to the 1990's phenom known as "Butterbean" and the fact that most men over 250 pounds are either giant bean poles or they are tubs of lard.

MMA on the other hand went from being an "Open Weight" sport where men 160 pounds fought guys weighing as much as 800 pounds in those early days, and it was a no brainer to have weight classes that involved men of enormous sizes further down the road. The MMA weight classes are a bit more interesting, too, in the fact that there is as much as a 40 pound weight gap in each weight divison. A Middleweight in MMA is the size of our Cruiserweights. A heavyweight, on the other hand, is 265 pounds maximum. Super Heavyweight is anything over 265 pounds.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

[Giancarlo]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

Not in HomoHenryWorld.

[HomicideHenry]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

Not in HomoHenryWorld.

Suck my fat one you cheap dime store hood.

[HomicideHenry]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

Did you feel it was THAT necessary to dive into the bare minimum details?

As I said MIDDLEWEIGHT MMA is equal to boxing's CRUISERWEIGHT division.

And my bad, @ super heavyweight & heavyweight division disparities.

[Giancarlo]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

Not in HomoHenryWorld.

Suck my fat one you cheap dime store hood.

Do people really talk like that in America?

Or are you in the manic part of the cycle at the moment?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

Did you feel it was THAT necessary to dive into the bare minimum details?

As I said MIDDLEWEIGHT MMA is equal to boxing's CRUISERWEIGHT division.

And my bad, @ super heavyweight & heavyweight division disparities.

You're a weird dude, how much more in depth would you like it? Ask me anything, I'd be happy to teach you.

What you said was wrong, is wrong, will continue to be wrong.

[p4p1]

Middleweight is 185. the classes are 125, 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 & 265

Did you feel it was THAT necessary to dive into the bare minimum details?

As I said MIDDLEWEIGHT MMA is equal to boxing's CRUISERWEIGHT division.

And my bad, @ super heavyweight & heavyweight division disparities.

Light heavyweight is closer to cruiserweight though, that is why he corrected you.