Did Ali think of the rope a dope on the spot?

Ali trained like that since at least before the first Liston fight. He had been preparing for such a moment for a long time. But that he reverted to it was a spur of the moment thing.

 

Yes it was definitely planned. I agree. He appeared to attempt it (or some version of it at least) in TFOTC 3 years prior.

 

Dundee can be heard shouting" stay off the ropes " and in the corner he berated Ali for voluntarily doing so,Ali said,"shut up,I know what Im doing." Ali improvised the tactics on the spot after finding himself winded early on.Ali himself said it was a spur of the moment thing and Dundee, to his credit said he had no input at all in the strategy.

 

IMO, as claimed and as can actually be seen, Ali planned to dance as much as possible and despite looking good in the process Ali still got trapped against his own will even before Rd 1 was out. Hurtful shots were landed and Ali didn’t look at all comfortable because he was mentally programmed to stay on the move. At that point or shortly after, Ali decided upon an improv strategy for better or worse.

He simply repurposed fighting off the ropes from a “no other option” contingent strategy to an out and out preemptive election in a real fight. It immediately began in Rd 2 with Ali slowly backing to the ropes but notably still firing sharp counters all the while. It allowed for greater preparedness and control over the inevitable since, as was borne out in Rd 1, whether Ali liked it or not, Foreman was going to catch Ali on the ropes again anyway. Better that than pointedly evasive dancing, expending energy only to still get caught on the ropes and catch bombs while trying to get off.

Ali’s previous sparring experience stood him in very good stead, being very well drilled in the mechanics of defending, absorbing and fighting off the ropes. And yes, Ali’s voluntary periods on the ropes were not as protracted as legend would have it anyway, the occasional Foreman bombs were still getting through and there was only so much Ali could take at any given time but at least he had the control over how and when. I mean, it didn’t look like much fun there but intermittently electing to fight off the ropes turned out to be the least of all possible evils.

True also that Dundee had no clue (screaming along with the rest of Team Ali to get off the ropes) nor sparring partner Larry Holmes. To strengthen Dundee’s claim, Dundee was very prone to claiming credit in some measure for Ali’s successes whenever possible but on this occasion he expressly claimed none. I would say, except for Ali, they were all truly shitting themselves. Ali’s self belief was off the charts.