After Foremans loss to Ali he was making all kinds of excuses for the loss as well as blaming his training staff. **** Saddler, was fired and Archie Moore was let go. Gil Clancy, was hired to eventually train Foreman for the expected rematch. Pre Zaire, Foreman would pressure and attack his opponents with his thudding power. Post Zaire, Gil Clancy decided to change his style. He was more wait and react, boxing his opponents. Initially, it seemed to work until he faced Jimmy Young, who was thought that his style would be a good tuneup in anticipation of facing Ali next. Instead of attacking Young, he tried to box with him and Big George lost. If he couldn't beat Jimmy Young with this wait/react boxing style, then I think if he tried to sit back and box with Ali, then Ali may have defeated him as well. Only Ali could have defeated the monster Foreman of Zaire. 3 years later an Ali who was fading fast could have been defeated by Foreman in a rematch using his old attacking style. He just needed to not go crazy like he had done prior in Zaire. I think it's a mistake trying to change the natural style of a fighter. If Clancy had refined Foreman, instead of trying to radically temper his aggression, I think Foremans comeback may have been different. Of course post Zaire Foreman was a headcase, so who knows. Whats others opinions on the subject.
It's an interesting viewpoint shared by many, that Clancy altered Foreman too much. I feel Foreman looked awful vs Ali and some changes were needed. It happens often when a fighter gets dismantled. Clancy was a good trainer imo but perhaps Foreman wasn't the best mesh with him and needed less tinkering than Gil thought.
Foreman was slowing too and he attacked with a very open style. Remember he was beating the stuffing out of Ali until he got tired so who knows. He needed to adjust his style as well as all attacking fighters do when they age and slow down. Ali just had such a tremendous will to win and pain threshold. That's something you can't ever prepare for. George seemed to understand this in his later comeback as evidence of his fights with Moorer Holyfield etc where he took tremendous punishment and kept going. George had terrible defense when he was young and just overpowered most because of his sheer size and strength. That wasn't going to work long term.
I think Foreman needed a sports psychologist more than a trainer. I also think Clancy did him no favors.
I can remember the Foreman-Lyle bout quite well despite being a teenager. I can remember his corner shouting to George "not like that" when George cranked up his arms to start blasting into Ron. When comparing his style as the years went by, yes, trying to change George from slugger to a master boxer was wrong. It would have been better for George if a lot more had been put into stamina training and preparing differently, and leaving his fighting style as it was.
George was his own man. In an interview Gil complained that George was influenced by another trainer at the time who taught him how to break a man's arm in the clinch and he came out like a "dancing bear" with his arms too high. I think Gil really blamed the other trainer. I can't find that interview but I remember reading it.
I recall the interview as well. Gil had said that George was always going to have the punch, it was his other skills and stamina that needed working on. Gil had him on speed-bag and no heavy bag at all. Prepping for the Young fight, George had had enough of this approach and brought in a sub-trainer who put him back on the heavy bag, which George loved. Gil said he watched as every day his muscles got bigger and bigger on that bag and we all saw the results against Young. Gil may have been officially in the corner, but he can't be blamed for training him that night. It was the same George as the Ali fight. Winded when the opponent didn't fall.
That's how I remember it, Gill was on the payroll and chief second on the night but there was not enough time to undo what the other guy had george doing.
I think he was definately the wrong fit. I like gil and the boxer types he had on his roster back then--Griffith of course. And I always liked Ahumada & was a fan of Valdez. but those guys are of a different cloth than a George Foreman. I think a guy working with the hitters and more agressive fighters would have been a better fit. But George still has to listen. And obey. Not an easy task and it's easier to think of guys that would not work as opposed to good fits for foreman back then. So it really may not have changed things much at the end of the day.
Geese yes Gil made big errors in changing George's natural gate and stance! In the Dino Dennis bout we saw quickly how close Gil had his feet together making his uppercuts go sideways and totally taking away his walk in weight to his punches. Gil did this to shorten up his left hook but it totally mrssed George up. In the Young bout this same error caused his formerly awesome jab to be a useless butterfly catcher and the one time he was able to launch an assault on Young his feet became crossed and he almost went over because of it. Horrible moves by Gil who was the wrong man for Foreman.
If George Foreman was going to do better against cuties like Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young, there was going to have to be a change in his fighting style. Foreman seemed to waste a lot of energy and throw many wild punches in bouts with Ali and Young, resulting in him being badly fatigued late in both bouts. As a result, I feel that Foreman didn't have the stamina of a Joe Frazier, which meant he had to pace himself more and fight in a much smarter way. In fairness, Foreman did both during his comeback, possibly because he knew he was much older and packing far more weight. - Chuck Johnston
From the time he won the belt forward George was his own man.....he hardly listened to his trainer(s). Even in his comeback during fights between rounds he told Dundee on numerous occasions to "shut up ".
I never heard that. I think George's best fight in his entire comeback was against Lou Savarese. He fought such a disciplined fight. Actually outfought Lou and preserved his stamina.
