Joe Frazier vs Jimmy Ellis 2 - boxing - heavyweights
20th Century Box
2023-11-22
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Joe Frazier vs Jimmy Ellis in a 12 round non-title fight
Date: March 2, 1975
Venue: Junction Oval, Melbourne
Frazier stance: orthodox
Ellis stance: orthodox
When Joe Frazier and Jimmy Ellis met for the first time, the world heavyweight titles were on the line. Since then, Frazier and won and lost to Muhammad Ali, and been brutally dispatched by George Foreman. Frazier beat Jerry Quarry for a second time in June 1974, and his bout with Ellis was supposed to be an eliminator for the right to challenge Muhammad Ali for his world title belts. Ali had not committed to face the winner, and had expressed interest in a rematch with George Foreman or Joe Bugner. As Ali had beaten all of the boxers mentioned, and he was the reigning champion, he called the shots.
Why this event took place in Australia is a mystery (if anyone knows the reason for this choice of location, please leave a comment below). Allegedly, only 15,000 tickets were sold even though the crowd capacity was 52,000.
Jimmy Ellis spent around half of his pro boxing career as a middleweight, and nothing at that weight, so the fact he was able to become heavyweight champion of the world (at least according to the WBA) was remarkable. He was prone to going through impressive winning streaks (sometimes against highly ranked opponents) punctuated by losses that might have discouraged lesser men. His most recent winning sequence of eight consecutive KO wins had come to an end when he lost a first round slug out in somewhat controversial fashion to Earnie Shavers.
Ellis' form after that was the worst of his career. After a routine win against journeyman Al Jones, he lost to Boone Kirkman (best known for being one of five opponents George Foreman beat in a single night), drew with Larry Middleton and lost to Ron Lyle and Joe Bugner. Quite what Ellis had done to earn his place in a world title eliminator is as big a puzzle as the choice of venue.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Joe Frazier - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/147
Jimmy Ellis - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/16178
Date: March 2, 1975
Venue: Junction Oval, Melbourne
Frazier stance: orthodox
Ellis stance: orthodox
When Joe Frazier and Jimmy Ellis met for the first time, the world heavyweight titles were on the line. Since then, Frazier and won and lost to Muhammad Ali, and been brutally dispatched by George Foreman. Frazier beat Jerry Quarry for a second time in June 1974, and his bout with Ellis was supposed to be an eliminator for the right to challenge Muhammad Ali for his world title belts. Ali had not committed to face the winner, and had expressed interest in a rematch with George Foreman or Joe Bugner. As Ali had beaten all of the boxers mentioned, and he was the reigning champion, he called the shots.
Why this event took place in Australia is a mystery (if anyone knows the reason for this choice of location, please leave a comment below). Allegedly, only 15,000 tickets were sold even though the crowd capacity was 52,000.
Jimmy Ellis spent around half of his pro boxing career as a middleweight, and nothing at that weight, so the fact he was able to become heavyweight champion of the world (at least according to the WBA) was remarkable. He was prone to going through impressive winning streaks (sometimes against highly ranked opponents) punctuated by losses that might have discouraged lesser men. His most recent winning sequence of eight consecutive KO wins had come to an end when he lost a first round slug out in somewhat controversial fashion to Earnie Shavers.
Ellis' form after that was the worst of his career. After a routine win against journeyman Al Jones, he lost to Boone Kirkman (best known for being one of five opponents George Foreman beat in a single night), drew with Larry Middleton and lost to Ron Lyle and Joe Bugner. Quite what Ellis had done to earn his place in a world title eliminator is as big a puzzle as the choice of venue.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Joe Frazier - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/147
Jimmy Ellis - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/16178
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