Bob Foster vs Muhamed Ali, November 1972

There is some footage on Youtube. Foster's hands were quicker than Ali's in a lot of the exchanges, and he staggered Ali at least once as I recall. ALi just over-powered him--outweighed him by over 40 pounds.

 

Foster's hands were lightning quick. If you can find the kayo of Dick Tiger on Youtube you'll see an awesome combination.Foster just didn't have the weight to stand up to the heavies of the seventies.

 

This fight was the followup to the previous Soul Brothers vs Quarry Brothers PPV fights in which Foster brutally k.o.'ed Mike Quarry.

So Foster tried his left hook on Ali.....but Ali was just too big.

Foster did cut Ali with his jab....his jab was fast enough, plus had long enough reach to do it.

 

Foster said himself that Ali was too fast for him. But then he started counter Ali's jab with his own and had some luck with that tactic.

 

Anyone not around during the 70's missed out on matchups like these. You simply don't have anything like them anymore with far far too much spot picking and softie defenses.

Foster moved up in weight to take on a guy like Muhammad Ali. For no title. The title was still held by Frazier who had destroyed Foster already. What was the risk factor of facing a Muhammad Ali in 72? That was prior to the Norton loss & the best that could happen might be a Frazier rematch. All you have to do is beat a Muhammad Ali. This kind of thing isn't even a consideration in the risk vs. reward management style we've seen since.

And Foster lost the fight he continued to defend his title but was really never the same. Then again, what guys are after getting stopped late in a bout where they take a sustained beating?

 

Ali later mentioned this fight as being one of the two in which he was most dazed in the ring. Add the fact he was cut and the general success Foster had with his jab, and you have to wonder how far Foster could have gone if he was a natural heavyweight.

 

Foster did manage to get to Ali on several occassions but I would not ever say he hurt Ali ... he did land though and did cut him ...

 

Ali said that it was in the top two occasions of him being hurt, along I think with the first Cooper fight. That's pretty serious.

 

foster had that talent he was lightheavyweight champ for so many years crushed everybody .. didn't do too well at heavy but i got a feeling he'd be a mike moorer type champ in another era

 

you could say that in a sense he did more actual damage ....but foreman did more blunt damage that could be soaked up

 

Foster looks pretty good on Ali's record, although he was a natural light-heavyweight. They contested a jabbing battle from all accounts as I've not seen the full fight. Superb finish from Ali after he takes a few punches, then decides to put Foster out of his misery.

 

Yes, Bob was surprised at Ali's speed and confessed he didn't see some of the punches- or thta he didn't land. I don't think Ali was badly hurt at all. He said he was, but he over-complimented every fighter he fought ("Bugner was this...Dunn was that". He even said Foster was better than Frazier after this fight and the "best he'd ever fought". Nah. Ali appears to be toying with Foster most of the fight for me, until he decides to open up.