Why wasn't there an immediate rematch with Ali vs Foreman

When Ali beat Liston there was a rematch

When Liston beat Patterson there was a rematch

Seems like when a champion got beat he'd get a rematch

Why didn't George Foreman get an immediate rematch?

 

Why didn't Muhammad Ali get an immediate rematch with Joe Frazier? They were both undefeated when they met. Foreman also wanted a five million dollar guarantee and purse equity. That was hard to meet.

 

I don’t know, it was pretty one sided but it’d still be a big draw… GF’d be taking a pay check doe.

 

Plus immediate rematches had become kind of frowned upon after some of the very fights you cited ...

 

The rematch should have been made, obstacles be damned. If George thought he didn't get a fair shake (odds are he didnt) and Ali wanted to be the greatest it should have happened.

 

Foreman took fifteen months off after the Rumble. In those fifteen months Ali fought Frazier, Bugner, and Lyle.

 

I don't think Foreman wanted one, he was viewed as this indestructible monster, and I think he thought so himself especially after koing Frazier and Norton easily, when they both had wins over Ali. Foreman was inactive during 1975 apert from the exhibition in Toronto.

 

I was reading this interview where Foreman was wondering if he could have taken the Ali who beat Shavers. Ali was pretty well gone at that point. That was right before the debacle against Spinks. Makes you wonder where George's head was at.

 

And Foreman had nearly 2-year reign as champion and Ali was only his 3rd defense in that time, he wasn't the most active fighter either at the time.

 

At the start Ali was probably willing to do it but Foreman wasn't in the right head space and didn't fight for over a year. When Foreman returned he fought a little over another year before retiring. While Foreman fought 6 times in this span(dear Usyk fans thats a year not a career) there wasn't much calendar time to make the fight. At this point it makes sense Ali would have been much less confident in his ability to win.


The 2023 Foreman biopic claims Ali offered Foreman the rematch after he retired in 1977 in exchange for Foreman beating Norton again for him because quote "I sure as hell can't". Hollywood is known for making up history and there are a few problems with this timelinewise you can probably figure out yourself. But it was an interesting scene. Makes you wonder if Ali wanted Foreman to fight Norton in exchange for a title shot in 76 when it made a bit more sense and they remixed it to fit into the plot. Or maybe they pulled the story out of their rears.

 

Come to think of it why didn't Foreman immediately rematch Frazier? They were both undefeated when they met. He would likely have done just as well.

 

If you look into instant rematches in HW history you'll notice they are clustered between 1950-1965 and the last few years and have otherwise almost never been done for the title unless theres a draw. Dempsey had to beat Sharkey to get the Tunney rematch etc. Even for DQs the loser was winning. Lennox got the Rahman rematch and then Bill bleeping Squires of all people is the guy that broke the glass ceiling here which is random af lol.

 

Foreman took 15 months off. He didn't want an immediate rematch. He wanted to rebuild his confidence and if he jumped with Ali immediately, suffering back to back defeats to the same man would have been career ending.

Now by 1976-77 there was a case that Foreman deserved a rematch. My guess is Ali's team didn't think the risk was worth it. Then again, Ali was fighting highly credible fighters like Shavers and Young.

Foreman would have gotten a rematch most likely if he beat Young.

 

I think both he and Joe needed time out to recuperate after the FOTC,such a draining fight.