Muhammad Ali - The Rope-a-Dope Con........

The sparring before the Foreman fight, you could see him applying the rope-a-dope strategy. There is film of this on one of Ali's specials...

 

Ali took very hard body shots with very few head shots landing from Foreman. Ali did not take a lot of punishment in his one sided win over Foreman.

 

He took loads of head shots, but Ali landed more (and more accurate) shots.

 

Ali said that he deciced on laying on the ropes because George was cuting the ring off easily and That Ali was taking 3 steps for every one that George took....which means that Ali would tire out 3 times faster than George would at the workrate Ali had to go at just to keep out of the way of Georges huge shots..... Ali figured out early that George was smart enough in a boxing sense to cut the ring off and nullify Alis boxing/dancing style.

We hear from reading biographies that Ali had been laying on the ropes for years when sparring,and most trainers blow a fuse when a fighter does that as they open themselves up to more danger by remaining in a static position. Its a bad habit Ali had that worked for him on the one night he really needed a miracle...... Anyone that says Ali didnt take many big shots while laying on those ropes is on crack or something. He took plenty and the Video proves the point for all to see.Watch it sometime.

As for George having his water poisoned or being doped somehow...... the man was fine till he got hit and went down. He was doing a good job banging away up till that point, so why the "i was doped" bull****? just a sorry ass excuse for taking a dive perhaps? George had never been on the canvas before in his life and his ego took a much bigger hit than his head that night and he stayed down?? its as good an explanation as saying he was drugged aint it? i think it is.

 

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If he didn't plan it, that means he improvised it on the spot, which is even more impressive.

Ali would always find a way to win as long as his body would let him.

 

Also, George has long since given up on the doping claim and admitted that he was just grasping at straws to save his pride. He has also said that he's glad the ref ended the fight when he did, because if he had let it continue Ali might have killed him.

 

Both interesting arguments here....

Now, what would Ali have done if Foreman did not get tired? Many fighters go in with the plan that their opponent will wear out, only to end up losing by decision.

 

Ali, from early on in his career would play rope-a-dope in sparring just as a back up plan in case he couldnt dance out of trouble, he rarely needed it in his prime but he did in the 70s.

As for the Foreman fight... Ali`s initial strategy was to get in his best possible shape & dance as best he could vs Foreman but once he felt how effective GF was at cutting off the ring + how tired Ali himself became after just one rd of dancing vs George, he resorted to the tactic that he hoped he would not need, especially against a monster like George... the famous rope-a-dope tactic.

 

2 things....

Only the untrained eye sees Foreman beating Ali up the whole fight, then gassing & getting KO`d... thats what I first thought at age 10 when I first seen this fight... if you watch it carefully, with a few yrs experience of watching boxing under your belt, you see Ali landing the cleaner punches throughout, making George miss badly most of the time & also blocks a lot of shots as well.

The other thing.... you will be hard pressed to find even an Ali critic that wont say Ali is `better` or `superior` to Foreman.

 

Well, considering Ali was winning the majority of the rds doing what he was doing, Id say he would have just did the same rd after rd to take home a wide UD.

Ps. have you seen this fight in full or just highlights ?

 

It doesn't really matter. Here's what does matter: According to Big George himself, after he unloaded absolutely everything he had on Ali, and the bell rang, Ali asked him, "Is that all you got George." Foreman went back to his corner thinking, "Yep, that's about it." From that moment Foreman was a beaten man and he knew it. That's from the horses mouth.

 

I actually remember reading that Cus D'mato(I think?) told him he had to hurt Foreman early to earn his respect, I dont think he was attempting to KO him, just show him his power.

 

I have seen the fight many many times. I really wish ESPN classic will learn that there is a whole world of great fights that don't have Ali in them! I can't imagine if he or his corner felt he was winning rounds. I don't recall what the actual cards were but They had Ali ahead, which is strange because I don't see it.

 

Ali broke Foreman's will in that fight- at that stage, Foreman was a bully who in his own mind couldn't handle someone who didn't cave in to the pressure. Ali didn't cave, albeit absorbing shots in the process- probably to the detriment of his long-term health.

I've probably come off strongly as an Ali critic lately, but he deserves fair play for that win. It's been overly romanticized a bit when people portray it as Ali doing absolutely nothing and letting Big George wail away on him non-stop, but it was still a fine performance in that it was the only way Ali could've won that fight. Had there been a rematch and Foreman had his head right, I'd have picked Foreman to avenge his defeat. Heck, had he fought a little smarter he'd have won the first one- but he wasn't, and Ali exploited that and deserves credit for it.