Just saw George vs the 5 guys for the first time

It was a weird event and Cosell really derided Foreman for it, was being a bit of an ass about it I thought. I do wonder if they were all in on it though to promote a rematch. didnt George say Ali kept calling him around that time to get him to beat Nortan for him?

 

I dont agree that there was a double standard for George and people were being hard on him. They werent. It was George and his team who acted like this was something new and unheard of and who hyped it up as a major event to the point that WWoS covered it. The problem was that while it was not uncommon it was George who acted like it was and took it overly serious to disastrous effect. Someone said it was WWF type stuff and thats true right down to Ali on the mic antagonizing Foreman. It was Foreman who didnt get that this should have all been tongue in cheek. Instead he took it serious, got it in his head that he was doing something unprecedented, and then flipped out when he was confronted by the circus atmosphere. That is what made it an embarrassment.

 

Great post.

Although Ali had every right to poke at George considering they were professional rivals.
What irks me is the complete dismissal of Foremans accomplishment in the eyes of 'boxiana'.

 

Nobody dismisses his accomplishments its just that his accomplishments werent anywhere near as impressive as his fans pretend.

 

I don't know what that's relative to.
But I've always felt that Cossell was far too imbalanced towards the circus side of interpreting the event, and people generally echoed the same.

 

Yes, and Charlie managed to go the 3 rounds with George without getting decked or ko'ed...he musta flustered big George a bit.

 

I've just rewatched the whole debacle... there are elements of staging that were farcical, like George asking jerry judge to push him Back to cause the wrestling. Ali Acting the goat and Cosell as eager as ever to create sensationalism did not help either. but through it all Foreman did deck and hurt three separate guys. Of course George had huge weight advantages over each guy and had operated at a much higher level more recently than any of his carefully selected victims ever had - but between his own clowning George really was going for it "for real".

Where Foreman had went wrong was he had wanted to appear like he could end a fight "when ever he wanted to" so much so that he could even dance and clown if he wanted to whilst still trying to achieve and reestablish his previous "intimidating invincibility". And it did not work for several reasons.

The clowning just annoys the fans and looked silly, it cheapened his appeal as a serious destroyer. And the stopping a fight "whenever he wanted to" part included him asking the referee to stop Terry Daniels... and was aided by Alonzo Johnson quitting and falling without getting hit. So Establishing Invincibility was a disaster because he got wobbled himself taking free shots he should have seen coming a few times. And was rolling around wrestling guys on the floor who should not have been in the ring with him.

Ultimately Foreman was badly advised to embark on This show in first place because it harmed his reputation at a time where he needed to instil a serious position among the world scene.

 

One judge gave Foreman no rounds.

Completely untrue regarding the ref. George's gloves were still on the canvas as he tolled 10. He then swung his arms in the classic "your out" form. Complete myth that Foreman was not counted out. You could not be more wrong.

 

As usual you show yourself to be completely ignorant when it comes to boxing. Im not even sure why someone who knows so little about the sport continues to post here.

You are absolutely full of **** in regards to the count. I swear you lie as much as Mendoza. First the referee did not show 7 fingers when Foreman was up, in fact the referees hands arent even framed on screen when Foreman rises. The person counting was Bob Sheridan the announcer and his count was completely wrong. Second, if it was such a bad count and such a premature stoppage why didnt Foreman or even his corner protest? Why did Foreman lurch out of the ring completely out of it, and again what exactly do you think he would have accomplished had he been allowed to continue in that condition? Its laughable to pretend he was somehow cheated. Jesus the excuses this guy gets. I mean honestly, saying Ali had hometown advantage? Are you kidding me? Both guys were from the USA fighting in Zaire and Foreman was the sitting champion. Its not Ali's fault if hes more popular than George and that wasnt going to change anywhere in the world that they fought including George's hometown.

 

Ali was also landing more clean punches on Foreman than vice versa. You'll notice that even by the end of the fifth round,George's face was puffing up while Muhammad was virtually unmarked.

 

When George Foreman faced five boxers in exhibitions on an ABC telecast with Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali as the commentators, it was a first-class debacle which was universally condemned in the American media at the time. It would be one thing to stage such a farce in some obscure venue without it being televised, but to have it being shown on a major television network was crossing the line.

During the 1970s, there were a lot of bouts shown on ABC, CBS and NBC because of the interest in boxing generated by the comeback of Muhammad Ali, the tremendous performance of American boxers at the 1976 Olympics and the rise of Sugar Ray Leonard. There were quite a few good bouts shown on all three networks during the decade, but far too many of the other bouts were gross mismatches, notably ones in which world titles were at stake. It is true that the sanctioning bodies deserve much of the blame for giving high rankings to grossly unqualified boxers who received title shots as a result, but all three of the major networks should also have been roundly condemned for showing such garbage on television. Howard Cosell complained about some obvious mismatches and some of the wrongs in the sport of boxing, but I don't remember him condemning the powers-that-be at ABC, notably Roone Arledge, for their part in the situation.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Agreed. He knew who buttered the bread.

 

Just so everyone is aware during Ali's second title reign only his bouts with Foreman, Frazier and Norton were PPV events. All his other bouts were shown live on TV (typically ABC although his bout with Shavers was on NBC).

 

Counted out, yes, but the count to me was faster than 10 seconds! Close to 9 and a half.

 

I gave Foreman two rounds in the Zaire fight and maybe a share of one. Ali totally outclassed,out thought and outfought him. And yes he took a 10 count.