Muhammad Ali Vs George Foreman 2

Seeing how far Ali had slipped by 1976 if George was trained and focused and fought a more patient fight Ali would have been in deep water to get a win.

 

Prime vs prime, Ali has the edge and definitely beats Foreman.
But a 75/76 Ali, no way. Foreman wasn't gonna fall for the same trick again and Ali knew that.
Foreman was too much of a threat/risk at that point in Ali's career.

 

Don't think he ever complained about the loss against Young.

 

Ali already had a trainer. A couple of them.

 

A rematch - would it take place in the states or abroad again?
How different could Foreman actually fight Ali at this point, are we going to see an almost carbon copy of the first fight?

In a rematch imo, George try s to learn his lesson and doesn't go absolutely crackers, trying to smash Ali in to the ground.
But Ali's taunting riles him and before too long he's wildly swinging away, whilst Ali covers up and grins.
By about the tenth, yes I think he gets to around that far, it's time for Ali to take control.
George s lolling against Ali, who suddenly goes on the attack, battering Foreman and sending him crashing.
Perhaps he beats the count this time?
Doesn't matter, Ali smells blood and George is shot.

So yes, in my humble opinion, its groundhog day.

 

Yea that's what I'm saying. George came off as a sore loser after Zaire when he brought up the water etc. I'm not saying that Saddler did poison the water but when you see him in Ali's entourage it looks bad. The Perception alone. Perhaps Ali did it to fuk with Foreman's head further. It would be like Eddie Futch or Yank Durham jumping on Ali's dic when Joe was out for a time.

 

Ali didn't even train properly for Manila and was out of shape for that fight, so he probably wouldn't have beaten George anytime after '75 except George was still mentally psyched out. Remember, Foreman said that while he always wanted the rematch, he was always unsure if he really wanted to dance with Ali again.

Ali did often take part in rematches, but something was definitely fishy after the Foreman bout. Ali initially said he would take things a bit easy and faced Wepner, but he said he would give Foreman a rematch. The strange thing here is that, Foreman apparently claimed Ali offered him a rematch only on the condition that Sadler would be his trainer. Now, Foreman did later deny there was any foul play but it still seems suspicious.

And I don't really buy into Foreman's excuses like the water issue. He defended Wilder's ridiculous excuses after Fury knocked him out, cause he knew he was also in a bad place psychologically after losing his aura of invincibility to Ali. In other words, he was seeing himself in Wilder.

Still, the Sadler issue remains.

 

Hard to say. If it's after Manila Foreman would be favored or should be. It would truly come down to where George's head was at. If he was focused and determined to adjust what he could, better condition, ready for the distance If necessary he would win.
Foreman could apply pressure to Ali behind his left jab and be more patient before he dropped his bombs.

 

It's possible. Like you say, some depends on how George s mind is at the time.

 

International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion George Foreman has many adoring fans, but former trainer-manager Dick Sadler is hardly one of them.

Sadler, now 80 and living in Hayward, Calif., called Foreman a “dirty bum” over claims in Foreman’s new book, “By George,” including one accusing Sadler of asking for $25,000 to bribe referee Zack Clayton before Foreman’s 1974 match with Muhammad Ali in the famous rope-a-dope fight in Zaire.

“I thought we were covered,” wrote Foreman. “Dick Sadler came to me for $25,000 to slip the referee under the table. I asked why. ‘Because,’ he said, ‘you’ve got a habit of hitting people when they’re down. I want to make sure he doesn’t disqualify you.’ I gave him the money because that’s how the game was played.”

Foreman said he doesn’t know if Clayton received the money, but Sadler was emphatic about it.

“He’s lying, and God and he knows it,” said Sadler, taking a jab at the ministerial Foreman.

*

Add jabs: Foreman’s other allegations against Sadler:

--Sadler dehydrated him.




--Sadler’s fight-night instructions contradicted his usual advice.

--Herbert Muhammad, Ali’s manager, told Foreman that if he re-signed with Sadler, he’d get a rematch. Foreman said he refused.

Sadler’s reply to all of this?

“That boy (Ali)whupped his (butt) because of his stupidity.”

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-09-sp-63983-story.html

 

Nonsense

 

And later in his comeback George had more than one in his corner at the same time.

If Ali saw value in having Saddler on board and was willing to pay him while George is accusing his guy of poisoning his water and taking a year off, why wouldn’t the guy take the job?

 

Maybe out or loyalty to his protégé that won the heavyweight championship of the world and made him an already rich man. Integrity, maybe decency. If Dick Saddler was already hurting for $ by 1975 maybe he had some other problems.

 

If you don’t have income you’re hurting for money. If a guy takes a year off and you depend on him for work, you find another job.

If you’re paid well and your company lays you off for a year, perhaps to come back but who knows, you just gonna sit there and spend your savings or are you going to find another job?

And George openly accused Saddler of all kinds of nefarious stuff, including poisoning him. So much for loyalty.

 

No b

But he did claim to have been so dehydrated he had a St Paulesque revelation in his dressing room and was spoken to by God so it wasn't exactly 'the best man won' acceptance of defeat.