At that time?? Banks had dropped him, Jones gave him fits (both fighters roughly the same weight as Cooper). ATG Ali exponentially improved after Cooper. Repeat: Clay rose from his stool and would have walked who knows where had his corner not sat him back down. Had Cooper nailed him with that left hook mid-4th round he wouldn't have survived. I think boxing history has been better served with the Clay victory at that time but, unless he had tried some Terrell 'octopus' nonsense (doubtful) Cooper would have stopped him at that time. My $0.02
yeh at that time, cos none of them hurt him serious. think you forget just how good Ali was, he was one in a million, leterally. the stars aligned when he got his boxing attributes. U tihnk Cooper "would have" done a lot, based on Cooper getting his face blitzed at will to early stoppages on the two occasions he fought ali. Maybe you think too much.
No it's not a myth, it's a FACT. Ali was dizzy as hell and if the punch hadn't come at the end of the round, Ali would have been KO'd. Dundee did cheat, he tore the glove and he gave Ali smelling salts, which were ILLEGAL. That is also no myth, he did duck Foreman
Saddler joined Ali's camp after Zaire, which reinforced George's suspicions. Dundee also admitted he gave money to the referee, Zack Clayton, before the fight. Dundee said he gave the ref money so he would protect Ali from a serious beating. But it should be noted that when George went down, the ref gave him a quick count and waived it off before the count of 10 as George was standing up. George beat the count. Which makes it look like Dundee gave him a bribe. As far as the torn glove in the Cooper fight, the glove was not replaced. But Dundee admitted he ripped the glove and the torn glove was used to cut Cooper to shreds in the very next round
I heard that Kevin Rooney bribed the ref during the Tyson/Spinks fight. That's why the ref counted real quick.
What if......... Foreman let Ali get into his head and fought the stupidest fight in the history of the heavyweight division, possibly in the history of the boxing game itself?
This is WAY more likely. Foreman lost that fight because, to quote Frazier, he fought very foolishly. He was young and used to watching people fall in two rounds. I think George was screwed as soon as Ali landed THAT lead right hand flush in his face in the first round. Ali just wouldn't leave him alone, whispering in his ear, telling him he hit like a girl... You could compare to Holyfield-Tyson I, though Foreman got humiliated. George's bringing up such unverifiable bull**** is part of post-traumatic disorder he already admitted to having after getting his ass kicked by Ali. He lived in denial. He fought Ali the way he fought Frazier and Norton, and it just plain didn't work. Norton and Frazier almost never altered their fight plans. Ali could and did.
In all honesty Saddler joining Ali's looks bad. Real bad. That was George's guy in Zaire and who had guided his career up to that point. I'm sure Ali enjoyed messing with Foreman.
It seemed in the very beginning, the first round, Foreman wasn't particularly phased or impressed by Ali's psych out. But after Ali scored those super sharp punches in the first rounds, plus George getting his ear whispered into in an outrageously bizarre way (not sure that ever happened in a championship bout before, it had to freek George out some. It did me when I saw it at 8 years old)...I think those variables plus the heat combined to ruin George. The loose ropes didn't help either.
Ali won the fight because Ali was a great experienced fighter and Foreman was overconfident and fought the wrong fight. However Ali never gave him a rematch, i don't think that Ali was sure about his chances in a rematch to be honest. Foreman is my man but i have no problem admitting that Ali had the tools to beat him prime vs prime but i think that Foreman would have beaten 76 Ali
Maybe the ghost of Sonny Liston put something in his bottle of water. A lot of fighters just cannot grasp the truth that they were beaten by a more skilled fighter, their shoes were too big. As a young athlete in athletics, you are taught good sportsmanship, shaking hands before and after. It is part of growing into adulthood. It has nothing to do with passion, but sour grapes.