Ali vs. Foreman II: 1976

To further add credence to @William Walker's assertion, Scott Ledoux was also a viable contender in 76 and was there to fight and...plop.

 

It's not about the fact that Foreman hadn't refocused, it was that he was never a great boxer to begin with. He had average technique and he was slow as a snail. All his wins were the result of sheer punching power. Plus he only fought a few decent/good boxers before facing Ali, the rest were bums.
Any top boxer that can move and jab well will beat Foreman. Hell, Morrison beat his ass. And Moorer also dominated him all night long.

 

This is the joke of the century.
Or better yet, it's the joke of the milenium.

Foreman was anything but accurate.
Damn, if you google an antonym for the word "accurate", you'll end up with "Foreman".

Foreman's success was almost entirely dependant on one factor only: raw power.

When you combine sheer punching power with speed and accuracy, you get a KO artist like Tyson.
If Foreman had the same speed and accuracy as Tyson, he'd have murdered all those that came into the ring with him.

 

Ali could have replicated it if he slipped Foreman a memory loss potion that made him forget about the previous fight and the Foreman would have fought exactly as he did in the first fight.

 

Ali wasn't leading on any of the official cards after 10 rounds with Lyle, and the judges were famously biased in Ali's favor back then. Foreman was much more popular than Lyle was. So, yes, a year later, when Ali was even slower, I certainly believe Foreman could outpoint Ali.

Ali didn't throw a lot in 1976 in most rounds. George wouldn't have to go crazy to win rounds against him. Norton won seven of the 15 rounds on most cards against Ali in 1976, and Norton wasn't exactly a busy fighter, himself. He certainly didn't crack like George.

 

It all depends on how you look at it.

Others would look at it as Foreman stopped Lyle and Frazier in a fraction of the time it took Ali to stop them.

And Quarry outpointed Lyle and lost by stoppage to Frazier, so I don't even know why you brought Quarry up.

In 1976, Foreman stopped Lyle and Frazier in five rounds. If Quarry had done that in 1976, people around here would be calling Jerry the uncrowned champ. With George, those wins are seen as a negative, somehow.

And as far as Ledoux goes, Scott fought Ali in 1977 in an exhibition and whacked him all around. In fact, after Spinks (who Ledoux drew with) outpointed Ali, Ledoux started answering his phone as "Scott Ledoux, uncrowned heavyweight champion."

Ledoux wasn't an easy out back then. After losing to George, Ledoux went on a tear. Boudreaux, Lyle and Norton were all dropped by him and barely hung on.

Foreman blasted out Ledoux like he was nothing. Not that it was a showcase win, or anything. But it's not like even a prime Holmes could spark out Ledoux like Foreman did.

Foreman was still a young 27 years old in 1976. And Ali had hit the wall that year.

I think Foreman does to Ali in 1976 what people thought he was going to do to Ali in 1974.

 

Yes, I once heard someone say, “styles make fights“! I may have actually heard that a few times! Over analysis of specific out comes leads to false equivalencies . I think GEORGE would be the first two admit that Muhammad Ali rented significant space in his head.Combined with Ali’s crazy ability to recover from a shot it’s difficult to predict how Foreman reacts if je is taken into deeper waters

 

I was responding to someone who said Foreman got dropped by a guy who Ali and Quarry beat. That's why I said it all depends on how you look at it.

Yes, he got dropped by Lyle (who Quarry and Ali beat). George also stopped that guy in half the time it took those two to win.

Stopping a guy in half the time is usually seen as a bigger accomplishment.