People forget this... but George claimed he was drugged in Zaire

I wouldn’t rule anything out in boxing, particularly back then, then that’s alls I’ll say..

 

It was Peppermint Schnapps.

 

I remember all this clearly back in the day. Foreman came out with a bevy of excuses on his loss. He immediately came out with three. The canvas was too soft, the ropes were too loose and the count was too fast. A couple of months later he came out with the "I was drugged" excuse. The truth of the matter was he was outwitted by one of the best tacticians who changed plans after the first round when he realized it would be difficult to stay on the run with Foreman. It was an ad-hoc plan that worked. I was just a teen-ager watching this and saw the plan by the 5th round. Forget the excuses, he was out-schooled.

 

It could have been something to make sure the water was sanitized

 

I can’t remember where it takes place but there’s one shot where Foreman is on his stool & he’s chewing away at something he’s been given. I doubt they’re drugging him but I always wonder what that is.

 

Power is not all he has in common with Wilder.

 

You both failed to mention the biggest clue that there was shenanigans. According to George he was distracted by his best friend sitting ringside because he was cheering for Ali.

 

People forget this... After his second loss (after the Jimmy Young fight), Foreman had a religious experience in the locker room.

 

Foreman still had a bunch of excuses in his autobiography By George which came out in the 90s. My favorite was his “I was about to knock Ali out but I got distracted when I saw my friend in the audience rooting for Ali.”

 

People who get punched in the head for a living usually ain’t all right.

It’s a different breed with a different mindset. Accepting defeat isn’t easy for some and then their minds play tricks on them.

Not to mention that they get punched in the head for a living.

To me it’s funny (ironic) that some people hate on this fighter or that because of something they said (Ali and Leonard being a couple of prime examples) … but many of those same people don’t seem to care that Carlos Monzon was a murderer or countless other things fighters have done causing actual harm to other people.

 

It's difficult to navigate the waters between the lands of Anything-Can-Happen and I-Can't-Prove-Jack. Now is a time that has proven this more than any other in history. But that is just because we have more people now than in other times and we're recording them and all the trash coming out of their gobs. What does this have to do with Foreman? Everything. What does it have to do with everything? Anything. What does this have to do with anything? Something. Maybe everything.

 

Nobody forget that. After Wilder came up with all those ridiculous excuses, Zaire allegory was quickly brought up. Foreman even defended Wilder:

When I lost to Muhammad Ali in Africa all those years back, the ropes were loose, someone put something in my water, it was too early in the morning - the excuses went on. You've got to have excuses when you lose, especially when you're undefeated. You can't just say, "I lost". You can't say that.

In By George he did mention the water, but in the same book, and numerous times through his second career and final retirement he gives Ali full credit, often lavishing him with praise.

 

I don't personally believe the man of Archie's integrity would stoop to a set-up. The Mongoose said it best: Foreman faced a defensive fighter of highest caliber. The fact that he was so subtle further sprung the trap of heat and vast experience ("I was the heavyweight champion of the world when you still went to school.")