Foreman : Deterioration of skills 1970 - '74

Also Foreman didn't fight smart against Ali and got too confident he could knock Ali out due to his quick disposage of Frazier. I would say he deteriorated the most in the late 70's. In the 90's he seemed to have a better appreciation of defense(cross defense) and wasn't as wild and fought smarter.

 

it's a good point and a good post. he did fight less controlled but i always thought of it as him being less nervous and reserved post title win. when he fought chuvalo, he was like you said respectful and probably a little bit scared. as his confidence grew he became more comfortable and free with your punches.

but when looking at it another way his technique deteriorated and his offense was sloppy. his early career you're bang on, showed a tremendous jab and more measured offense. he was never willie pep but he turned into a ****ing caveman by 74

 

Bingo. Had Foreman approached the Ali fight by using some of the more tactful skills that he showed from his amateur days up to the Chuvalo bout, he might not have gassed quite as early.. I think that after watching Ali struggle on 4 occasions against Norton and Frazier, Foreman figured that he wasn't going to last any longer against him than they did...

 

Interesting point. I don't think Foreman's skill detoriated, but he certainly neglected parts of his arsenal. I reckon, Sadler and co just thought that he was a more effective fighter when he gave into his natural ferocity.

 

:happy

Well done. I've been saying this dozens of times but to no avail. It gets totally dismissed.

 

Ali said that Foreman did indeed use the correct strategy against him, which is cut off the ring and apply pressure. The problem is, he is no Frazier. Had he tried a more cautious approach, using his jab, etc., Ali would have picked him apart even worse. Ali just had Foreman's number, plain and simple.

 

George Foreman had very basic boxing skills in the early 70s..... His jab was basically his skill.... Other than his jab, Foreman threw everything wide from the outside.... Foreman got by on size, strength and power in the 70s..... More so his assets.... Foreman's skills didn't actually improve until his return in the late 80s.....

MR.BILL

 

Hell, just a bit later in '77 and he has no skill against Lyle. Amazing fight though.

 

Here's an interesting early fight of Foreman's against the 6'6, 235 lb Jack O'Halloran:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9306ubFi-s[/ame]


O'Halloran was far from a great fighter but he did hold wins over old Cleveland Williams, Henry Clark, Blue Lewis, Manuel Ramos, Terry Daniels, Rahman Ali. He later went into acting.

 

Jan. '76...:deal

MR.BILL

 

Jack O'Halloran was the dumb super-human oaf in "Superman 2" with Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder from 1980, and O'Halloran was the psycho killer (Simon Moon) in Chuck Norris' 1988 film "Hero and the Terror."
:deal

MR.BILL

 

Very interesting point...I hadn't considered it before. I do know that Foreman's performance against Ali was shockingly amateurish, though. It is astounding to think that a world champion of proven ability could have fought so ineptly that night, as Foreman did. Foreman must have become very complacent by then. No other explanation.

 

I think that once Foreman discovered that he was capable of totally demolishing opponents, he became lazy and relied on his power and physical tools too exclusively. I'm not saying that he was by any means a technical genius nor even had the potential to be, but his earlier fights certainly reflected some semblance of skill, generalship, etc.. It was neither the first nor last time that this same thing occurred to a good fighter..

 

Foreman's attack on Jose Roman in Tokyo back in '73 was the worst display of championship technique I had ever witnessed up until Carlos Maussa of 2007......

MR.BILL:deal