Why didn't Foreman get a rematch against Ali?

I can easily envision Ali's people seeing it as fight where the risk would exceed the reward. But if he hadn't lost to Young he might perhaps have gotten a shot. Even though I wouldn't call it a blatant duck, Ali and his people didn't seem to keen to take on Foreman a second time. And I can see why.

 

Where is this revisionist bullsh!t coming from?

George didn't have a fight for over a year after the loss to Ali. His only activity was embarassing himself with those five exhibitions on the same day.

Jimmy Young didn't have to trade with Foreman in ring center. So why would Ali have to? Ali hit much harder than Young, plus he got inside George's head. He would have taken him out again.

 

Foreman became the mandatory in '76. I personally don't see much of a problem with Ali not taking him on directly after Norton, but that seems to be what was requested of him (formally).

 

Yep.

Foreman took a year off after losing to Ali, which cost him an immediate rematch.

However, beating Frazier and Lyle put him back among the top contenders.

Ali put off the fight for about a year, basically continually saying "One more fight and I'll fight him."

The fight was supposed to finally happen once Foreman got by Young, but of course he blew that fight.


Hard to tell how a rematch in '77 would've gone. On one hand, Ali had clearly slipped since the first fight and was very vulnerable at this time. If Foreman could still be guaranteed to attack with the intensity he did in the first fight, I don't know if Ali still could've handled him. But at the same time, Foreman himself did not look fully the same since Ali beat him. Against Lyle and Young, he looked unsure of himself, as if he didn't know whether he should be a boxer or a slugger. But then, that's why the rematch was so anticipated at this time. But it all became moot once Foreman lost to Young and then retired for 20 or whatever years.

 

If they had fought sometime in 1975, I think Ali would still have beaten him. Ali was too fast, too sharp, and too skilled. If they had fought later on, sometime in 1977 or so, Foreman would have had a much better chance, as Ali was slowing down quite a bit by then.

 

Foreman and company jerked off after the '74 loss to Ali............ SIMPLE!! Had George Foreman come back to the USA and fought again with a win in early '75, a rematch would've loomed.... But no, George Foreman took a vacation and made a buncha' bogus excuses' before fighting some bull**** exhibition in Toronto in 1975.... After that, George Foreman remained quiet until Jan. of '76.... George Foreman would've been the # 1 contender by mid '77, had he beaten Jimmy Young in Puerto Rico...... Foreman screwed up; not Ali..... Peace.....

MR.BILL

 

True, although it's harder to see this more mature version of Foreman losing to the 1977 Ali. His punching technique, stamina and willingness to follow orders had all increased dramatically.

 

The answer to this question is simple.

First, Foreman took over a year off after losing to Ali in 1974. By the time Foreman returned to the ring in 1976, Ken Norton was already established as Ali's mandatory challenger, and Foreman had to wait for Ali-Norton to finish first.

Second, it took the promoters most of 1976 to finally stage Ali-Norton (the fight didn't happen until late in 1976). This delay kept Foreman in the number two position, behind Norton, for the entire year.

Third, after Ali beat Norton and Foreman was finally established as the leading contender, there was a waiting period (the winter of 1976-77) when the boxing world was expecting Ali to retire. Thus, Foreman's title shot was postponed pending Ali's decision.

Finally -- and most telling of all -- Foreman took a fight in March, 1977 against Jimmy Young, which he lost. After this, Foreman lost interest in boxing and retired for ten years.

 

You are correct. I would add to this the fact that the 1977 Ali was a badly faded version of the Ali who beat Foreman in 1974, and of the Ali who beat Frazier in 1975. By 1977 Ali was ready to fall.

 

Ali was too busy buying into his own hype and defending the most prestiguous crown in the sport against joke fighters, soft touches and historical nonetities ... after all, he had earnt a few 'soft defences' right?

 

This is actually BS. Let's look at Ali's second reign: He gave rubber matches to his by far two most difficult opponents, and took on solid contenders like Lyle, Bugner, Shavers and Young. The only one who can make a reasonable claim to have been denied a title shot is Foreman, whom Ali already had beaten and who retired about a year after making his comeback.

In short Ali took on what there was to take on (with the possible exception of Foreman), and that's what really matters. That he defended against a couple of nobodies doesn't change the fact that he took on the ones that mattered.

Both of Ali's reigns compares favourable to the ones of Johnson, Dempsey, Patterson, Frazier, Holmes, Bowe and probably also Marciano and Charles. That ain't too shabby.

 

He was ducked. He even gatecrashed a press-conference to ask for a fight- Ali agreed "after two more fights" (whatever that's supposed to mean). Anyway, Ali announced the fight was on in Nov 1976- then retired. Foreman lined up a few fights, Ali announced he wasn't retired after all and signed to fight Evangelista. Foreman, who'd been ranked #1 throughout almost all of Ali's 2nd reign, then lost to Young, found God, ate a lot, come back, etc.

 

True. But by 77 it was a joke too far- Evangelista, Spinks, Bobick was lined-up, even Mike Shutte. He'd had enough favours the previous year with the decisions in the Young and Norton fights.