Foreman's durability

He did have a great chin. Briggs. Moorer, Cooney and Morrison couldn't knock him down.

It does show that Ali had underrated power. Of course Ali was not as heavy handed as Briggs or Cooney or Morrison. But he was precise and he knew how to hurt guys when necessary. Ali staggered Foreman as early as the 3rd round in their fight before Big George was exhausted. Muhammad could really punch when he wanted to.

I would have liked to see Foreman vs Ruddock in his comeback. Would be an exciting fight. Old George probably wins it though.

 

The "ko" defeat of Foreman against Ali had nothing to do with Ali's Power, Foreman was totally exhausted

 

I never said it did. I said Ali had underrated power and hit hard enough to stagger and back Foreman up in round 3 of their fight before Foreman was exhausted. It shows underrated power. That's all I said.

 

Ali could not hurt Foreman at all before he was gassed.
Well you said" It does show that Ali had underrated power". And here you are insinuating that his power was one of the motives of the "ko". And i disagree, foreman fought a dumb fight and he was gassed

 

Someone did mention the other day on the Fighters who Turned a Weakness into a Strength thread (can't remember who, sorry!) that one of the differences between the younger Foreman and the older one is that the older one fought more relaxed and less tight, which I'd agree with. The Ali knockout was probably as much down to his exhaustion and being demoralized as it was Ali's power, although there's no doubt that Ali had him hurt as well. When Foreman came back he was fresher after the first few rounds and less likely to drain himself through expending so much nervous energy and tension early on. In a better position to withstand the heavy artillery.

Saved by the bell at least once (maybe twice) against Holyfield from memory, though. And if he'd have fought someone like Ruddock or Tua the way he fought Qawi, I'm not sure he'd have made it past the middle rounds. But that's all ifs, buts and maybes.

 

Ali is undoubtedly an underrated finisher.

Normally when you fight the level of competition that he fought, your KO% falls off sharply, puncher or not.

The fact that he retained a high KO%, must be considered very telling.

 

Very true, Muhammad Ali could not hurt George Foreman during their 1974 title bout in Zaire, he caught him with swift combos coming off the ropes. But Ali has never been known as a devastating puncher, George just got outfoxed and he was exhausted when the end came in round 8.

 

The Tyson Foreman fight would have been interesting. Could Mike's power have gotten to George punching up and walking into a possible George uppercut and being pushed back.

 

No, I was insinuating that his power backed him up in round 3, which it did. Nothing else. You are complexly misinterpreting what I said.

 

Ok.. Maybe. but i keep saying that the Ali power has nothing to do here

 

His durability was incredible, just look at his face after the Alex Stewart fight. I know he had a broken nose and I believe a busted eardrum as well. George was truly one of a kind!

 

He was just a ridiculously strong, brave and tough man.

I’m still in awe of his recovery after prime Holyfield unloaded about 20 flush shots on him. He staggered a bit, the bell rang and he was fully recovered about 2 seconds later. Just a hard ******* smiling behind a salesman’s veneer.

 

Ali's power was absolutely a big part of the reason he stopped Foreman

 

Foreman was a big, strong ass man