Let's use Foreman-Ali for an example. Say you are sent back in time, and you arrive at the exact time and location the day or week before a big fight, and you are afforded the opportunity to hang with the eventual loser of said fight - in this case George Foreman. You take out your futuristic tablet, or smart phone, or whatever, and you show him video of the fight that is about to take place. Foreman watches, sees Ali's strategy, and sees the fight that is about to unfold should he not change his approach. Going into the fight, Foreman now has insight into the actual strategy/tactics employed by Ali. Is Foreman good enough to change his approach to reverse the outcome? And if Foreman isn't good enough to change his approach to reverse the outcome, which examples of a loser being afforded the same insight a few days out from a big fight would benefit most from seeing the fight before it happened? Now that I think of it, showing Leonard video of his first fight with Duran may have been a better example, but nonetheless, I'd be interested in hearing some responses. Apologies in advance if the premise is too silly to entertain. :smoke
I think this is a cool premise. I'd tell Boza to make sure he has the right boxing shoes and test them out on the ring canvas before facing Chacon in their second fight. I'd also tell him to alternate fighting Chacon inside and outside. Don't stay on the inside the whole time, burning yourself out. Move back outside some of the time and use your massive reach advantage to pot shot the half blinded by his own blood Chacon. And try not to get caught at the wrong distance by Chacon's right hand because it's the only weapon he really had left by that fight. It might make the fight less exciting, but Boza would win.
^^^ Lol I like this premise, too. I still find it incredible that Ali beat Foreman. I definitely wouldn't have put my money on Ali, and apparently, others felt the same way since he was an underdog. So showing Foreman how he would lose? That should make him approach the fight smarter. But would he win? I think I'd still give it to Ali. His clinching, chin, and combos gets him through a really tough fight? I would think that showing Louis his first fight with Schmeling would prevent his first loss and KO. I also think that showing Walcott his KO loss to Marciano might help him give Marciano his first (and only?) loss since Walcott would be on his toes and would be forced to actually respect Marciano like he didn't do.
I'd tell Harold Johnson to avoid the spiked orange, tell Billy Collins, Sr. to look closely at the gloves of Luis Resto before his son gets in the ring and likewise I would tell Miguel Cotto's handlers to look closely at the handwraps of Antonio Margarito.
I like this thread :good I very much doubt George would have beaten Muhammad on that night no matter how many times he'd seen his own future. Ali was too sharp and too damn good ! I agree Leonard would have benefited had he seen an 'advance performance' of the Montreal fight. Jack Dempsey would have had a really good advantage had he seen the long count of his second fight with Gene Tunney
Or tell Arguello to have the commission mandate a drug test and check the contents of all water bottles regarding his first fight with Pryor.
I dont think that George was prepared mentally at that time, it took that loss and a few other humbling experience- Lyle-Young to make him reevaluate himself, he was a dark heart bully and copied the Liston look, much different then the smiling flag raising youngster that won the gold. Ali always said these wide swinging muscle guys have always been easy to beat, just let them empty their gas tank and they are yours and if you pay attention and dont get intimidated you can avoid all those wide swings. Somebody was going to do it to George, his best and only real wins were over Frazier and then Norton and they were 2 rd fights, Ali knew what happened in rd 3, rd 4, rd 5 Young Foreman never fought a puncher and if you look at Lyle's record the best you could call him was average, he had size and strength but not a elite banger. Ali and Young took him for a walk then mugged him. The older Foreman with Old Archie in his corner taught him how to pace himself and avoid the big punches and he was pretty carefully matched. But to answer your question, I think in some cases it would be extremely valuable to know how to correct a mistake of improve on a strategy in some cases as in the case of Foreman-Ali or Frazier-Foreman you can only possibly delay the outcome.
If I could go back in time, I would give one of George Foreman's old opponents, Tim "Doc" Anderson a copy of a newspaper with his trial and sentence in it, and tell him to keep away from that Parker guy, and not have a re-match with Gastiniou. Poor old Tim.
Foreman would have layed back more which would have only prolonged his agony. George was mentally in prime form prior to fighting Ali. He was a killer with a killer punch. As a smart boxer Ali made him punch himself out. George recanted everything he said right after that bout during the early stages of his comeback years later. I remember on the Art Rust radio show George stated he made up all sorts of excuses after he lost to Ali. The truth however was Ali was a 215 pound hwt and it just was so long he could take his punches.
I suspect that Foreman doesn't quite have what he needs to win. If he fights at a measured pace, Ali simply outpoints him. If he fights aggressively, then we know what happens. His cutting off the ring, was already fist rate. I am not seeing a way forward to be honest!