The "Foreman had bad stamina" myth

Foreman's stamina probably wasn't as bad as is often made out in general terms, but it's fair enough that people draw attention to it, because it's what cost him in both of his defeats in his prime years. In comparative terms, when you match it up against his punching power, chin, brute strength etc, it was definitely a weak point.

At the end of the day, he was fully conscious when he went down in Zaire, but just too worn out and demoralized to get up, and after almost getting Young out of there he totally shot his bolt and was running on fumes in the final few rounds which again cost him a decision in this case.

So while his stamina wasn't awful, it wasn't all that good, either.

 

He didn't have bad stamina in general...but certainly in the Congo stamina was the difference maker. (along with meticulous game planning)

 

It probably does get overplayed a bit. Foreman was loading wide shots with a lot of force behind them in Zaire. Not to mention getting punched in the face repeatedly.

The heat was intense in both Zaire and Puerto Rico in his defeats before his 10 years off.

Later in his career, he learned to pace himself and relax more.

 

:good

His stamina issues derived from situational more than innate factors.

 

Foreman had bad pacing. Lots of guys in love with their power have the same issue.

 

All true. Also watch Ali continually not just clinching, but pulling down with his body weight in Zaire. That must have expedited his destruction by a couple of rounds. Imagine having a strong man doing this when fighting like that in the heat.

 

Well this is more reasonable & sane Hamburger.

Yes Foreman was a beast at his best, & his speed & endurance was OK overall.

 

Yeah, I read in his autobio that he dried out.

I take damn near everything he says with a grain of salt, but assuming it's true, why in the world would a heavyweight dry out?

 

His stamina was never terrific. But saying that he had "bad" stamina and surmising that he would have gassed every time he met a long range boxer is overstated.

 

Perhaps because knowing the one advantage that Ali was perceived as having was speed, and in some misguided way he was hoping to mitigate that disadvantage to as great an extent as was in his control.

...or, because it was never his idea and Dick Sadler was a bumbling lunatic of a chief second of Norman Stone proportions. :conf

 

Well, stamina was a weak point for him. He ran out of steam in his two major prime loses, and though he closed the show successfully, he was running on fumes in the Peralta fights that went 10 rounds.

There are however two extremes to this argument that I disagree with: 1. Foreman is going to just magically collapse everytime a fight goes past 5 rounds. 2. It was the environment and not his conditioning, strategic short comings, and opponents that cost him his matches against Young and Ali. Truth is, he was going to lose those fights if he had air conditioning in his corner.

 

I have to agree. I always found it both ironic and even comical that for a man who spent his entire life living in TEXAS that operating in hotter conditions was a problem for him.

 

I gotta say, that logic is uncharacteristically lazy of you, Monsieur Magoo.

So if someone is a professional lion tamer (in a controlled setting with domesticated animals bred for show business) he should be able to roll up in the jungle and command obeisance from a wild tiger with nothing more than a firm tone and intimidatingly arched brow? :huh