George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier II, billed as "Battle of the Gladiators", was a professional boxing match contested on Ju | dG1fMElHVTJudlBrQWs
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00:00 Look at Smokin' Joe, record of 32 and 3, 27 KOs.
00:04 George Florman, 42 and 1, his only loss in Zaire to Muhammad Ali.
00:09 Even though he and Ali fought so well in that fight in Manila,
00:12 for Joe it was just a very difficult fight.
00:15 Ended up in the hospital after that, and you question his conditioning and how sharp he can be for this one.
00:21 But George Florman, well it's a different sort of battle.
00:24 It was that big battle with Ron Lyle a few months ago,
00:27 when both of them were knocked down several times during the course of that fight.
00:31 And they slugged that, and you wonder just how long these fighters seem to go
00:34 when they get involved in big wars like that.
00:37 And then you don't measure the age of the fighters chronologically like they do in the boxing rings.
00:43 It depends on how many tough fights.
00:44 Look at Joe, taking the shots again, he's using a little bit of that rope and all,
00:49 but Ali is in Zaire, but it's not working because George is able to land some punches.
00:56 Joe's not looking in tremendous shape, but the fact of the matter is,
01:00 again I go back to what I said before,
01:02 and the fact that he doesn't look physically in great shape.
01:07 At this age, you know, at 32, you wouldn't expect him to look as good as the 27 year old
01:12 and the prime of his life, George Florman.
01:14 Both guys are still dangerous, because both guys can still bang.
01:18 We're just in round one, Joe Frazier not landing much here, about a minute to go here,
01:23 for the first round of the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York.
01:27 He's giving away about 7 inches in reach to Florman, and it's tough for Joe to get through.
01:32 I mean, Joe's a great boxer.
01:34 That is the bell-end round number one.
01:37 From the looks of him right now, I doubt if he ever can beat George, on the other hand,
01:41 looks like he's recovering totally from his brutal war with Ron Lyon,
01:44 and his difficult loss to Muhammad Ali.
01:47 George looks fairly sharp.
01:48 Big left hook by Joe!
01:51 Now just as I'm comfortably discussing, George Florman, Joe Frazier, lands a left hook!
01:57 The problem is, Joe Frazier's left hook, on the body, the huge body of George Florman,
02:03 doesn't take the same toll as it does on other fighters.
02:06 Here's what Joe needs to do, all of his trunk moving, but he used to be able to do that
02:10 for at least five minutes.
02:11 He gets through with a left hook, and look at him!
02:13 George doesn't seem to take any toll of it at all.
02:16 Of course, George has his problems in late rounds and fights.
02:20 George does well, usually, and is able to knock guys down with just brute strength,
02:25 in the first two, three, four rounds.
02:27 When you get into the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth round with George, then you got a shot!
02:33 They love their boxing here in the state of New York.
02:35 What a fine job the New York State Athletic Commission does.
02:38 About a minute left, in round number four.
02:42 Just don't forget his schedule for twelve.
02:45 Many people don't think it's going to go the distance, because of the size of these fighters,
02:49 and the way both of these guys can hit.
02:52 Joe with a desperation wild and pan that time, and the clubbing George Foreman continues
02:59 to build up points as he whacks away at the head, the trunk, and the body of the former
03:04 great champion, Joe Frazier.
03:07 Joe's already done better in this fight, getting into the fourth round, than he did in Kingston.
03:12 A lot of people question whether George Foreman's conditioning is great, but the fact of the
03:18 matter is, he's coming off a very difficult fight too, against that Ron Lyle.
03:23 Both of those guys, I think there were eight knockdowns in the first few rounds of that
03:28 fight, and finally Foreman knocked out Ron Lyle, the Denver fella that is mighty strong
03:33 and mighty big.
03:35 Look at these shots.
03:37 Every time Joe gets one through in the closing seconds of round four, they love him here
03:42 in Long Island, New York.
03:44 Joe Frazier, George Foreman.
03:46 George Foreman, we question his conditioning coming into the fight, because he took so
03:54 many shots and vicious shots from Ron Lyle in his last fight.
03:58 So far it's all George Foreman, and apparently he's continuing that way here in the fifth
04:02 round.
04:03 Look at these body shots.
04:04 If the fourth round was more or less even, George definitely won the first three.
04:15 But here in the fifth round, George is taking command again.
04:18 Uppercut lands, right hand lands behind the ear of Frazier.
04:24 Frazier tries to fight back.
04:25 He's got such a big heart.
04:27 And look at these big, thumping punches.
04:29 That's all you can call them, is big, thumping punches.
04:31 That's what he's really good at.
04:33 Again, Gil Clancy doesn't want him pushing his left hand.
04:36 He wants him snapping it.
04:37 He started doing that.
04:39 Now he's throwing more right hands.
04:40 I think George Foreman wants to end this thing as soon as he can, because he's looking a
04:44 little bit fatigued, and he's throwing so many punches, and big, wide punches, that
04:48 he can get out of where the fight goes in the sixth, seventh, eighth round.
04:53 He would really like that.
04:54 Oh, good shot!
04:55 That was a tough one on the chin!
04:57 And bounce the head back in about three good, heavy rolls by George Foreman.
05:01 Oh, now a back shoulder!
05:02 And down he goes!
05:04 He'll be able to get up.
05:05 He'll take the standing eight-pounder from the four, and five, and six, and seven, and
05:12 now finally the standing eight-pounder.
05:14 I don't think it's going to last much longer as George moves in, and he knows he can hurt
05:18 him now.
05:19 Big left hand again!
05:20 Big right hand!
05:21 Look at him trying to fight back!
05:23 His legs are gone!
05:24 George gets him with a big left hook, and the right uppercut blows him again!
05:29 Look at him, he's conked in the corner.
05:31 Former great champion, last to go under this time.
05:35 It's up to six, and seven.
05:37 Joe won't be able to continue.
05:38 It's at eight.
05:39 The referee, Harold Butler, takes a real good look at him.
05:43 And I think he's gonna say that's it.
05:45 And he does! It's all over!