what if foreman had back off of ali every time he roped?

I have often pondered myself how differently the foreman and ali fight would have turned out if George had understood what ali was doing on the ropes and literally stepped back to the middle of the ring every time ali was on the ropes, forcing him to come out and fight. if foreman had realized this tactic and not hit ali when he was on the ropes, would foreman have won?

 

I believe Foreman was more mentally beaten than physically. Ali did a mental work of art on Foreman, and by mid round of the fight, had Foreman believing that there was no way he could win. Foreman was looking for a way out of the fight and he took it.

 

Foreman would of won if that was the case, but it isn't the case because Foreman believed he was unbeatable, and nobody could take his punch.

I can't stand watching that fight though, because Ali cheated by using those ropes, and I know others were in on it.

 

Foreman was drugged, remember

 

Ali vs Foreman in the middle of the ring? No contest...Ali would have boxed circles around him just like he was doing in the first round.

 

Foreman would of caught him. If the ropes were tighter, Foreman would of caught him there as well.

 

yea, those were some loose ass ropes

 

Yeah, he paid someone to loosen the ropes...atsch

 

The greatest reason for Ali winning was not the ropes IMO but Ali's fast hands + long reach = awesome right hand lead. That that with Foreman's RELATIVELY slow reflexes + habit of keeping his hands down and you have Ali landing enough right hands to stagger Foreman, which is what he did in the centre of ring at the opening if you see it again at youtube. The ropes provided Ali with some rest and helped to tire Foreman - but that was much secondary to the greatest reason for beating Foreman.

If Foreman did that (I think it was Ellis and Quarry who had a similar case) then a US crowd would have booed Ali. Ali would come in the centre and use his right hand lead to win. This time he wouldn't have as many breaks so he'd be tested even MORE (and I think he'd pull off the magic) and Foreman wouldn't tire as quickly but ultimately would get nailed - so Ali wins a little later.

I do think Ali would trick Foreman into the ropes anyway. Any version of Ali before 1976 IMO beats Foreman. People say Ali beat Foreman mentally - true, but let's not get carried away it did not significantly affect the BOXING in the ring IMO (it affected Foreman personally etc) but in the RING was Foreman was still laying his heavy dynamites and Ai still had a good night's work to win the fight. It isn't like you could have put Joe Frazier in place of Ali that night (so beaten George was even BEFORE the bell) and Foreman would lose!

 

Didnt Foreman win pretty much every round leading up to the stoppage.??

 

The ropes were looser than an Atlantic City *****.

 

No

 

BS, someone please produce a scorecard. The scorecard is not listed on box records.

 

Ali win most of the rounds :happy

By the way if you have a copy of the fight have a good look at Alis midriff its sitting well out as if hes a beer belly but after a couple of rounds its well sucked in and his abs start showing ,Ali must have started the fight with a gutful of water

 

Foreman lost because he was tired.

If Foreman didn't waste his energy hitting Ali while he was covering up against the ropes, I think that he would have eventually caught Ali and clubbed him down. After 3 knockdowns, the ref would have stopped it.

The problem for Foreman in this fight was that up unitl this point, every one he hit, he destroyed. So he simply kept on swinging. He wasn't mentally beaten. If he was, he would have stopped swinging. The mental defeat came for Foreman after he taseted the canvass and lost his title.