Running vs Boxing. How to score it.

By my definition, Ali was dictating the terms of the fight. He saw that George was too good at cutting off the ring and was able to take the fight to the ropes, where his guile and skill and toughness allowed him to fight Foreman on his terms -- perhaps not the terms he entered the ring with the intention to fight, but the terms he decided to fight on once he sized up the situation.

 

Sometimes a man can be losing the fight but winning the battle. The judges must still score for the man landing the higher number of clean shots, you cannot score for ring generalship because it is not in the rules.Ring generalship is only there to to help you decide when the number of scoring blows is equal.

Foreman was not landing a higher number of clean, legal shots to the target area in most of those rounds against Ali. Many blows were landng on the hips, the shoulders, the gloves, the arms. You cant score them even if they were hard. George was getting through with some blows to the target area but so was Ali. I will have to rescore it but Foreman, although outworking Ali was not effective as Muhammad pretty much throughout the fight.

An example of a fighter losing the battle but winning the fight is Margarito against Cotto. Cotto totaly outlanded Margarito earlier in the fight and was winning more rounds but you got the impression he was really struggling keeping margarito off of him - even in his best rounds. Cotto still wins those rounds even if margaritos ring generalship was more effective in closing him down and making a bigger physical impresion with less blows. There is no justification giving rounds to margarito because he was having more effect if he was being outscored. Margarito won the fight in the end anyway but there are possibly examples where a guy wins the fight even though he was losing the battle.

 

Cotto couldnt have done anymore. Another fight that ended before schedule where the scoring was disputed was Holmes-cooney. I seem to remember Howard cossel making a deal of the fact that in rounds gerry was ahead on two of the judges scorecards going into the ending round. It was a phoney controversy

You could tell Coony was fading but in rounds it WAS close. In scoring it the corect way it was closer than it looked even though you can tell Holmes was winning "the battle". Apart from the early knockdown and a heavy barrage at the end of a mid round Holmes was content to give rounds away backing up and expending Cooney. Even as Holmes began to come forward cooney was matching him, its just that in racing terms you knew gerry had a puncture and was leeking gass.

Ali was often behind in rounds when in control. He gave away a lot of rounds against zora folley and the second Patterson fight. You knew he would win but scoring by the letter he was technically behind even though he won easy.

 

As far as Ali Foreman, Ali was ahead on all three cards after seven. I thought he was ahead also but just barely. In that fight Ali was boxing, in the Hagler Leonard debacle however, Ray was running. IMHO.

 

Anyone who saw the Bob Foster-Ray Anderson bout knows the differance between running and boxing. It was reported that even Ray's corner was disgusted with him.

 

^ That is a good example there. Ray used to spar with Frazier because of his height and Yank worked Rays corner for this fight . Yank called him a few choice names afterwards and was thoroughly ticked off at the holding and running.

 

Ali was way ahead after 7 rounds. Foreman however had Ali in trouble during those first three rounds. After round one Ali had to change his game plan since the one he was using was allowing George to grind him down.