George Foreman v Muhammad Ali, round 1

Besides Bob Sheridan & Joe Frazier, Jim Brown and David Frost were also commentators on the fight.

 

That is god given.

What Ali had above all was an almost molecular ability to judge distances.

Fighters with that kind of ability are few and far between.

Perhaps the best comparison is Jimmy Wilde.

 

Yeah, I consider his ability to judge distance as one of his greatest assets. It was never on greater display than against Foreman, I would say.

 

And all this post peak in reality. An incredible boxer.

 

In reality, it is his post peak accomplishments that make him the no. 1 HW for me.

McGrain, an excellent analysis ... very astute observation .. it was the subtle shifting backwards, the placement of his legs as well as the pivoting from momentarily square on stance that made his right have so much authority that night.

Look at Round 5, when Ali rallies off the ropes and staggers George ... the right snaps George's head and definitely carried power. I love the way Ali sets up the first right hand lead that snaps George's head in Round 1 ... bounce to one side, then to the other ... mesmerises George I thought for a second, as if George was watching in wonder, thinking, "what's going to happen" and then BAM!!!! No warning, just right hand lead ... FLUSH!!!

One of my favourite fights and favourite Ali performances ... indeed, perhaps, the most significant one of his career?

 

Absolutely. Head to head for the big stakes i still unhesitatingly choose Ali right before the exile.

 

For me, it has to be the Ali that faced Williams, rite thru to the Ali that faced Folley - I'd bet on this man to take the grand prize if it came down to h2h for the big chips.

 

That's the exact Ali i speak of, and just earlier today mentioned in the best heavy ever thread. If you think the same then i am that much more confident again. Good to see you getting time to post mate - always a treat reading them.

 

It was incredible. Up until a few years ago I was under the impression that Ali just laid on the ropes and Foreman just slowly punched at Ali's arms until he got too tired to continue, Ali then once or twice tapped on the side of the exausted Foreman head and Foreman toppled over.

What Ali did was amazing because Foreman was amazing, underrated @ this point of his career and his performance in this fight. Watch the fight and try to concentrate on Foreman and see the work he was doing on Ali. It was pretty damn brutal. I think the Foreman of that night would have KO'd the great majority of heavyweight ATG's.

 

Yes it was a great round. Ali looked magnificient. Foreman hit him with a very hard left hook towards the end that hurt Ali.