Yes. I remember reading that in his autobiography. He also implies that he didn't train,as he should have in the Ali fight. I don't think George has ever got over the fight TBH.
Supposedly he was quite dehydrated for a few days leading up to the fight in Zaire..nonetheless, Ali's rope-a-dope tactic was absolutely brilliant and i feel would've beaten any version Big George.....
That's partially the reason. I also think you can add the loose ropes to the equation and the fact he simply failed to pace himself properly. He didn't have control over some of these (issue and/or excusses) but he certainly had control over the last one. But I've watch this fight a couple of times, and personally I don't think Ali gets the credit he deserves for taking some hillacous body punches. Very few fighters in history could have withstood those.
Foreman was doomed when Ali landed the first lead right hand..............and kept landing it over and over again even buckling Foreman in the process. A insult to any pro fighter getting hit like that...........no rope a dope or poison BS, it clearly showed that George CANNOT deal with pinpoint accuracy and speed from a full grown SKILLED heavyweight. That is the reason why he was so carefully matched in his comeback, good chin or not, if he would have stepped up to the upper echelon of the competition, not blown up chinney lthwt or cruisers, big ol' George would have had more KO losses on his record.
I disagree with the comments about his comeback. He fought some big hitters. Also, it's not his fault that the champions who were reigning was former Cruiserweight Holyfield and former Light Heavyweight Moorer. There was no combination of speed and size like Ali around in the 90s anyhow. He lost to special fighter in Zaire.
What big hitter ? C level Saverease , Stewart or rehab Cokecooney ? Please...........maybe you think Schultz or the Crawford guy are "momster hiiters" lol............Please.... But he did not come close to even think about facing the following fighters in earnest ( some of them are not even that good), Golata, Mercer, Ruddock, a comebacking Spoon, Bruno, Tucker,Bowe, Lewis, Tyson, Tua, Byrd etc etc..............
Tommy Morrison was a huge hitter. Holyfield's power whilst not huge was very decent coupled with his accuracy and work rate. Shannon Briggs is nothing if not a big puncher (he hurt Lewis way more than he ever hurt Foreman). So to make out he fought no dangerous punchers in his comeback is plain silly. As for George avoiding the power of Tucker and Byrd...please...
I think he was tiring even at the end of the first round. Only in the first was he throwing sharp left hooks, to force Ali to the ropes and set him up for the right hook under the heart.
Foreman's excuses for losing this fight are pathetic. He's funny in that he says he's gotten over the fight and that he simply lost to a better man that night, but then he turns around and says he was probably drugged, his friend rooting against him in the audience distracted him, the ropes were loose, etc. Foreman can be a strange individual.
I'd say Morrison was a bigger hitter than all the guys you mentioned with the possible exception of Lewis, Ruddock, and Tua; but I feel Morrison's power was about equal to them.
It seems obvious to me watching the men being affected by and utilizing the ropes that the loosened ropes played a part in aiding Ali. Boxing has had a history of dirty tricks from the beginning. It shouldn't surprise us. Dundee is said to have given Ali something between rounds in a fight with Henry Cooper (?) at a point when he was in grave danger of being knocked out. There were claims of ointment in Ali's (Clay's) eyes in the first fight with Liston. If there were dirty tricks chalk it up as business as usual.
All this stuff about George being drugged has been brought up time and again for the last 35 years. Tedious. Ali's right hand leads may have sedated him,and his final combo was the general anaesthetic. Apart from that it is total bull.
I have no opinion on whether or not anyone was drugged in this fight. I know from the historical record of boxing that such a thing would not be unheard of. I think my impression of the fights progress said to me that big George just punched himself out, and was truly frustrated at his lack of effectiveness and Ali's determination. Imagine how he was feeling mentally toward the end when nothing he did was effective. It had to be discouraging.