Eddie Futch - Fight of The Century

Fight of The Century

In developing Frazier's strategy for the Ali fight, Futch thought it important for him to land body punches on Ali consistently throughout the course of the fight in order to wear him down. He felt that Frazier's constant bobbing and weaving would make Ali uncomfortable because he would often have to punch down at Joe's head (Ali almost never threw body punches) and he'd never had to do that before. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, in watching films of Ali, Futch noticed that his uppercuts were thrown sloppily, and incorrectly from a technical standpoint (Futch said Ali threw what he thought were uppercuts.) He instructed Frazier to throw a left hook over the top of Ali's right uppercuts, and told his fighter to expect to beat Ali to the punch when doing so. In the 15th round, when an exhausted Ali opened the round by throwing a half-hearted uppercut, Joe Frazier feinted a left hook, and then unleashed a huge leaping left hook at Ali's head, which floored him, creating an iconic moment in boxing history.

Frazier won the fight by a unanimous decision, and was recognized as the undefeated, undisputed champion of the world.