'67 Ali versus '74 Foreman

Very very easy fight for Ali.

 

Agreed, Ali fought like he did in 1974 because he had to. 67 Ali would never sit down on his right hands the way 74 Ali did and he'd move and box and George would wear down. It would go longer but Foreman would be outta gas in the 13th and get stopped.

 

Again the single thing that has me unsure of this likelihood is the tiny & soft ring. Fighting under these pretty unusual conditions as in Zaire.
With such an advantage for sluggers, & if the referee was strict about holding & pulling down the head/illegal tactics...
Foreman might have enough fodder to counter the stylistic disadvantage.

 

I never was a fan of the rope a dope. it is very bad strategy

Ali of 1966/67 would be much more successful, taking much less punishment en route to 11 round tko

 

It would be similar to the 74 encounter.

I don't think any Ali or any fighter at all had the legs to escape from Zaire Foreman consistently.

 

I agree with this, in 1974 George Foreman was fighting a 32 year old fighter who ten years earlier had done a job on Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. The 1974 version of Muhammad Ali did not have stamina or the legs anymore. George can try to cut off the ring as so many of Ali's challengers tried to do from 1965-1967, but we saw little did it do them. Ali was not an ignorant fighter to just stand still and exchange with someone as lumbering and powerful as George was back then. Back in Ali's first title reign, he did not hit the canvas, the Cooper knockdown was in June 1963, before Ali beat Liston. In May 1966, Ali took Henry's left hook without flinching or visiting the canvas, that shows a more experienced fighter in my opinion. The Rope A Dope was an invention coming from a fighter who could not replicate his win over Liston by dancing and moving 3 minutes a round no longer.

 

Well, that saved me a job. I would only add that in the 1966 rematch with Henry Cooper, Ali was so adept at moving from and defending against the left hook that Henry actually used his right and landed with it. I never knew Henry had a right !

 

I saw that fight live on ABC's Wide World Of Sports. It was advertised to be brought by the Early Bird Satellite on May 21 1966. Leading up to the fight was the possibility that Henry Cooper could land the left hook on the jaw of Muhammad Ali as he did on June 18 1963, possibly kayoing Ali this time, becoming the new champ. But it did not happen, referee George Smith ended matters in round 6 due to the very nasty gash which required 14 stitches.

 

But wait...didn't young George have the most amazing ring cutting skills? Certainly he could have cut the ring and made young Ali fight, and beat him with his strength and vicious punching power? Or ...young George was too much of a dummy to cut off young Ali, who would make him chase him and forget his vaunted ring cutting skills, and he was also such a dummy that an old man could let him fight his dream fight and still beat him up?

 

I watched it back a couple of years ago Richard M. I think it may well be Henry's best performance. He was really sharp and there was nothing in the fight.

 

I watched that fight with my Dad and Uncle, I was on my way to the hospital to be treated for Valley Fever, my stay was until June 3 1966, that fight let me down, I did not care for hospitals, Lol.

 

It's strange that Ali agreed to the small ring. The soggy canvas wasn't really something you could do much about, but it's surprising that his camp didn't insist on at least 20 foot ring,

 

If you'd seen him in training camp, six weeks without Mrs Cooper, you'd have known about it.

 

He adored Albina didn't he ? Henry was, I always thought, was over rated. If he hadn't come from London, he wouldn't have got through his early years.
There was a lovely interview with his lads when he died. A fierce, fighting man but at home a genuinely gentle soul.

 

I always had a lot of respect for Henry Cooper, he was class all the way in my book.