Foreman did that to Frazier too. Second round, big shot to the back of the head as Joe was stumbling along the ropes with all the time in the world not to throw it. George fought dirty. Joe would have approved.
I think the former issue we will just have 2 disagree on. It was a good discussion while it lasted. I have 2 agree w/ u on Goldstein. While I don't think Floyd would have recovered after the 1st and 2nd knockdowns, and I don't think Goldstein needed 2 see Floyd down 7x before he decided 2 stop it, I am certainly in favor of not stopping a fight after the 1st knockdown. It's not fair 2 the fighter and it's not fair to the fans.
I don’t think Floyd turned his back because he was quitting or whatever, I think he basically didn’t know where he was. As far as he was concerned at the time he probably could have been walking down the local Main Street! I don’t blame Ingo, he’s in combat mode he’s fighting to become heavyweight champion of the world the referee has basically gave him a free hit. As soon as a fighter is in la la land with his back turned walking away from his opponent then he’s out of it and the general rule is the fight should be stopped. Goldstein failed in his duty.
Completely disagree here with any culpability on Ingo’s part. If a guy turns his back on you in the ring and the ref doesn’t step in, you hit him. He doesn’t get to call a timeout to recover by turning away. You don’t let him off the hook. It’s 100 percent on the ref. And I don’t think Floyd was turning away looking for a break — I don’t think he had any idea what planet he was on, much less what city or state he was in — but that doesn’t mean his opponent has to stop trying to win if the ref isn’t willing to stop it.
Well, Saintpat, I do have 2 say I've changed my opinion on it some. I no longer blame Ruby, although I never thought Floyd was looking 4 a break. I think it was completely in Ingo's hands (literally as well as figuratively). Should he go after Floyd? While he had grounds 4 doing so, I don't look favorably upon it, and personally wouldn't do it myself.
Saying that Frazier being “so past it” was the key deciding factor is obnoxious, untrue and undermining of Foreman’s victory over the greatest fighter on the planet at the time.
