jaseprobst - Good question. One thing people forget about Zaire is that the ropes were ridiculously loose...i think I read in "Ali" by Tom Hauser that there were 24 foot ropes for a 20-foot ring. Basically too long. It was Ali's improvisational genius that allowed him to invent the rope-a-dope on the fly, when his corner thought he would get killed.i'm in full agreement. foreman most likely would have made adjustments and won easily. ali's life would have been so much better if he would have hung them up after this fight.
But the reason he invented the tactic was precisely because of how well Foreman cut off the ring in the first round and a half or so. Foreman had trained specifically to cut it off and move laterally - Ali, in one of his many biographies, wrote that he realized he was taking about six steps to every two of George's much-easier lateral shuffles. He knew Foreman would just walk him down and tire him out. So he camped on the ropes for long stretches to save his strength, which helped a lot because Foreman completely abandoned the body attack midway through the fight.
There is a specific sequence in mid-fight when Foreman unloads five punches on Ali's midsection, horrendous shots, and Ali covers up and shouts at Foreman. George cut back on the body punching because Ali asked him if that was the best he had. Ali basically got into his head and completely jedi mind-tricked him.
Take a rematch and the 75-77 version of Ali, with normal ropes. Foreman would only be better and had added a few pounds of muscle, too (he was 220 in Zaire, 224 for Lyle, I believe). He was also trained by Gil Clancy then instead of Dick Sadler, and Clancy was having him pace himself, work the jab more, not try and kill everything with one shot. Ali would probably take a terrible beating but he was virtually impossible to knock out. Pre-Manila Ali beats him, probably as George tires, as he did vs. Young. But post-Manila Ali probably gets knocked out and takes a horrible whupping.
Jetster -Winston Wolf -Jetster - Ali Killed Joe's spirit and it was no 1 shot lucky punch, he would beat him 10 outta 10! Joe litteraly quit boxing for years after.
I think u mean George
Lmao...ya but he also had some great battles with Joe ;)
he actually fought 5 times after ali, all against ranked opponents and won all by crushing knockout and couldn't get a rematch, he then fought jimmy young, lost, found religion and walked away. but before that he beat one of the feared men out ron lyle, crushed frazier again, and ran 2 other top 10 contenders out of the ring. not a guy with a crushed spirit at all. he would have hurt ali bad during a rematch
pharochuck -Jetster -Winston Wolf -Jetster - Ali Killed Joe's spirit and it was no 1 shot lucky punch, he would beat him 10 outta 10! Joe litteraly quit boxing for years after.
I think u mean George
Lmao...ya but he also had some great battles with Joe ;)
he actually fought 5 times after ali, all against ranked opponents and won all by crushing knockout and couldn't get a rematch, he then fought jimmy young, lost, found religion and walked away. but before that he beat one of the feared men out ron lyle, crushed frazier again, and ran 2 other top 10 contenders out of the ring. not a guy with a crushed spirit at all. he would have hurt ali bad during a rematch
Could of should of but when it mattered he was beaten and out classed, ask foreman what he thinks, they were all on a talk show many many years ago, Frazier, Foreman, Norton and Ali and they all agreed and showd incredible respect to Ali...the man that kept every single 1 of these great boxers from becoming a champoin and dominate their respective era.
My.02 cents
Bobby Lupo -Garv - The second George Foreman was much more relaxed in the ring, which is why he didn't gas even though he weighed more. If he had that kind of mental game in his first career he would have been unstoppable.
Another case of youth being wasted on the young.
Franken Foreman with Old George mind and Young George body would be practically unbeatable. The only guy that I'd favor over him would be a 1966 Ali. I don't think George could get off quick enough to touch the greatest version of Ali.<br type="_moz" />
Henry Cooper caught him. You don't think George could have?
wrongaboutVitali -Bobby Lupo -Garv - The second George Foreman was much more relaxed in the ring, which is why he didn't gas even though he weighed more. If he had that kind of mental game in his first career he would have been unstoppable.
Another case of youth being wasted on the young.
Franken Foreman with Old George mind and Young George body would be practically unbeatable. The only guy that I'd favor over him would be a 1966 Ali. I don't think George could get off quick enough to touch the greatest version of Ali.<br type="_moz" />
Henry Cooper caught him. You don't think George could have?
Clay had zero respect for Cooper. Ali feared Foreman. He appproached the Cooper fight like it was a farce.
Good point.
Jetster -kept them from becoming champ? i'm confused. you do know that when they were both undefeated and vying for the undisputed titel frazier won. you know that right? so ali definitely didn't keep frazier from being champ. norton? norton beat ali and broke his jaw in their first fight. foreman knocked him out in a title fight and kept him from becoming champ and foreman was champ when he and ali fought.incredible respect to Ali...the man that kept every single 1 of these great boxers from becoming a champoin and dominate their respective era.
no