Ali vs. Foreman II: 1976

Foreman now claims that Ali had his number and he doesn’t like his chances for what that is worth. I would think Ali is in big trouble on the other hand I still can’t my mind around his loss to Jimmy Young . .. . I give the edge to Ali because he has “the Ali factor”.

 

If Foreman was psychologically traumatized from the first fight, then he loses

If Foreman shows up, doesn't get nervous, doesn't let Ali get to his head, then he wins. I am not sure he could tko Ali though, maybe just batter him

 

Ali could not have replicated his previous effort, Foreman would have definitely fought much smarter. Lets be honest , Ali clearly lost to Norton, I think Foreman batters Ali and there's a possibility he stops him but not a big one

 

I recently re-watched Foreman's Jimmy Young fight and was appalled at how bad George looked. He just couldn't pull the trigger, except for round seven. Last night I watched Foreman-LeDoux and was surprised at how often George was being hit. Ali of 1976 takes Foreman of 1976. Ali had enough left in the tank; Foreman hadn't refocused. For that matter, the Larry Holmes of, say, the Ocasio fight stops 76-77 Foreman sometime after 7.

 

No reason for Foreman to lose here, yet he does ... Ali weathered Shavers' storm the following year, so he could still take it - though his tires were pretty worn at this point

 

Ali beats Foreman at any point in the 70s

 

At 8-1 odds, Muhammad Ali knocking out George Foreman was, along with Braddock-Baer, the biggest upset in heavyweight history to that point. Two years later, Ali didn't have much left.

I disagree with sweetsci who said he just watched Foreman-Ledoux and George got hit a lot so he believes George loses. From 1976 on, I don't know of a top heavyweight who got hit MORE than Ali. His plan of attack in many fights from 1976 on was to TAKE punches and wait for his opponent to tire. He'd really fallen off.

If George had slipped from 1974 to 1976, Ali had slipped MORE.

The Ali who, in 1974, was gliding around the ring in round 12 against Frazier in SuperFight II was gone forever. And the beating he suffered in the Thrilla in Manila was a beating he never really bounced back from.

Also, the thing about those big upsets is it's tough for the guy who was the underdog in the first fight to repeat his upset win.

Unless something totally unforseen happens (like Liston taking a dive in Lewiston or Tyson biting Holyfield's ear off in Vegas), the guy who scores the monumental upset usually either ... never rematches with the guy he beat (like Ali-Foreman, Douglas-Tyson, Pacquiao-Horn) ... or the guy who scored the big upset loses the return, and there's too many of them to mention (Backus-Napoles, Ruiz-Joshua, Rahman-Lewis, Schmeling-Louis, Spinks-Ali, Brown-Norris, Bradley-Pac, Turpin-Robinson, Basilio-Robinson, Norton-Ali, Rossman-Galindez, Johansson-Patterson, etc.)

There's a reason they were upsets. They wouldn't normally happen.

I think a 27-year-old George Foreman beats Ali in their 1976 rematch.

The pace would be much slower. If they fought in Yankee Stadium, Foreman wasn't going to have to be hospitalized for dehyrdration at the end (like he was against Young).

I don't even know if Foreman would have to stop him to get the win. If Foreman hit Ali like Norton did in Yankee Stadium, Ali would be the worse for wear and the late rally may not come.

Foreman wins. Exercises his demons.

 

I often wonder how different he would have performeb in his losses hadn’t Dehydrated himself prior to fights?!

 

Foreman's two losses during his 'first career' both took place outdoors in sauna-like conditions. He was hallucinating in the locker room moments after the Young fight and spent several days in the hospital to rehydrate. When you're "tripping" like George was in San Juan and "seeing God," you're pretty dehydrated.

 

I'd pick even the faded Ali to win against Foreman. By that time, Foreman had faded considerably too. He had life and death with Lyle and lost to Jimmy Young.

 

foreman. and easy.

Ali had real bad hands by 76. he is not getting George off him. And Ali was never going to get into that terrific condition like he did in 74. There is a reason a rematch was never made---and yet guys like Quarry/Bugner/ got rematches even.

But after thrilla in Manila, no more rematches for the Ali camp. they wanted soft touches. No Norton after yankee stadium/ No Young after their maryland bout. Hell, no Shavers rematch even. but we did get evangelista, didn't we?

 

I think Foreman would have got in the best shape ever and fought smart. He would have wanted this bad and it would be a real beating given to ali