Why is it assumed that Ali is much better than Foreman

I disagree. Ali said after the Foreman fight he knew he couldn've keep Foreman off by running for 15 rounds. Foreman wasn't Frazier. Foreman wasn't Norton. When George came charging at you throwing bombs you were in trouble. And Ali, to his credit, recognized that immediately. Pressure drains a fighter. And Foreman was applying pressure from the start, pressure with the kind of power Frazier and Norton simply didn't have.

The 1960s Ali, IMO, wouldn't have gone to the ropes against George and would've kept moving. As a result, he would've taken bombs and kept trying to run, and Ali backing up would've played into Foreman's hands. Ali would've gotten more tired, George would've been less tired because he wouldn't be throwing as much as he walked Ali down.

In many respects, Ali won in Zaire because he didn't run and didn't back up. The ropes kept him from backing up. So he essentially stood his ground and the more wily Ali was able to conserve his energy while Foreman fired, Ali was able to fight in spurts and turn it on before George could get a second wind.

 

Okay then...
George forced Ali to fight off the ropes, so his game plan worked perfectly. George put himself in a position to fight the fight exactly on his terms and then got beat up trying to do it.
Why does it matter if Ali could duplicate the effort? They only fought one time. What might or might not have happened had they fought again is irrelevant.

 

It’s never broken down exactly how Foreman catches the fleet footed 60s Ali who wouldn’t necessarily be backing up, rather, he’d be circling Foreman at speed, on the skirts to put himself in practical range to slightly adjust himself for elected offensive salvos - which highlights another omission - the effect of Ali’s own incoming offence which will get Foreman’s attention and wear him down.

Hand speed wise, Ali was still so much faster than George in Zaire - pointlessly so from Foreman’s perspective. Ali would be that much faster again in the 60s - hands and feet with surplus stamina for fuel.

If Ali rematched Foreman he could pull off the rope a dope again - but Foreman wouldn’t be buying it. But what then? A better paced, more reserved Foreman does what? - he simply gets his ears boxed off imo.

As to Ali’s legs - not gone by 1974 but not what they were nor his stamina - along with Foreman being very adept at cutting off the ring - a ring that was smaller than was agreed upon. Also Ali wasn’t immune to the heat himself so that, and the allegedly soft canvas had to be factored and weighed in. That’s all part of high end boxing IQ - including adaptability - with that attribute properly considered - Ali’s win wasn’t so lucky or unable to be repeated in some other way shape or form.


I’ve always held reserve on Ali’s claimed pre med election to dance - though he always held to it.

He came in pointedly lighter, 212 lbs, very close to Miami weight, to dance v Norton and Frazier - dancing weight as Ali himself called it.

However, for Foreman, Ali came in at 216 1/2 lbs (though shortly after the fight claimed 213 lbs in the UK special AN AUDIENCE WITH ALI host Dickie Davies - generously linked to me by another poster and in turn I strongly recommend it also….

Ali looked built for strength and power in Zaire and was demonstrably so during the course of the fight - he might’ve thought he could dance v Foreman also but weight wise, it didn’t appear that he was accenting on same to the degree he did and trained for v Ken and Joe.

 

why is it people say idiotic things like George would beat ali how when he never would land enough his tech was bad and slow