Wrong perception of the fights

Absolutely this. Any time they came off the ropes, Ali was straight up whooping Foreman's ass. He was having so much success, I'm not sure if the rope-a-dope was even necessary.

 

Pernell outclassed Chavez and got robbed. It seemed like a fight that was hard to score with both guys showing good ring generalship but both having a hard time landing effective punches.

Wladimir Klitschko beat Povetkin by cheating via clinching…. Yes, in between hammering him with jabs, right hands, and left hooks, which visibly took out any fight that Povetkin had in him.

GGG beat Canelo in the second fight.. Canelo adapted really well and became the aggressor in this fight (against most people’s expectations) and won a clear but competitive decision….


…..all of this is….IMO, of course.

 

It was a masterclass. Foreman got 'defensively' battered every round, when I watch it I'm always surprised he lasted as long as he did...

 

Conn ran or used extravagant movement in Louis 1. He didn't, he primarily crowded Joe.

 

You beat me to it.

He was popping George, swiveling his frickin' head with punches.

 

People might also think that Taylor was winning a lot by using a lot of movement and “pure boxing” (I still am not quite sure how to define this phrase). He was mainly outworking Chavez. He was taking hard shots throughout, including a big right hand in round 2 that opened a cut in his mouth.

But Taylor was throwing an unbelievable amount of punches.

The fight also gets exaggerated on how it ruined Taylor from being an ATG. Given Taylor’s style and the talent level around at the time, he was likely to be a terrific fighter for a short period as opposed to someone with longevity.

He did have a very good win a year later over Aaron Davis for a title at 147, saying he had weight troubles as 140, but declined quickly in 92’.

Chavez or no Chavez fight, I don’t think he would have beaten his mandatory in Espana who was much bigger and had a huge edge in height and range.

I also imagine he took a lot of punishment in Philly gym wars.

 

That Tyson was looking for a way out against Holyfield because he knew he’d lose/couldn’t bully him.

The reality is that Holyfield was extremely dirty and Mills Lane totally let the fight get out of hand. Tyson snapped as a result.

 

Great example and I agree, quite possibly the best.

If Foreman only fell primarily due to fatigue, as many would have it, then fatigue also caused some interesting damage to his face - and Ali’s punches also caused Foreman to stutter as early as round 4 - when fatigue could not be blamed. Terrific punching display by Ali from go to whoa.

 

That Conn lost his head in round 13, going for broke against Joe Louis, thereby leaving himself open to be KO’d.

Reality was that a patient Louis been incrementally closing the gap and Conn had been fighting somewhat aggressively throughout the fight anyway, a strategy that was the cornerstone for his successes for the better part of the fight - but not in round 13.

 

Ali-Norton lll. Watch the fight with the sound off. Dick Young who was one of the announcers wouldn't let the fight breathe.

 

Highly agree on the Canelo beating GGG in the rematch, not a popular opinion on the general forum or social media.

 

I recall that during the fight the announcers were musing about how negatively affected the sport of boxing would be without Ali, either when Ali was beaten and no longer the # 1 guy or retired altogether.

As if they were reacting to what was going down in front of their own eyes, Ali being progressively beaten by Norton.

When Ali danced without necessarily scoring, the announcers almost wet their pants, waxing lyrical - clearly deferring to their memories of a more prime and effective Ali, not so much to what was actually happening before their eyes.

I think the judges were similarly disposed in terms of sentimentality given the unrealistic decision they rendered unanimously - imo, Ali was clearly beaten but the powers that be simply didn’t want to let go of the man.

Still, there are quite a few people who agree with the decision and they have the right to that opinion of course - I personally just can’t see it.

 

I don't think Canelo-GGG 2 is an example of a fight being misconceived tbh. Most agree that Canelo's #MexicanStyle approach worked a lot better against GGG but there are just disagreements on how the fight should be scored due to how close it was, with the majority scoring it for Golovkin despite Canelo's own excellent account of himself in that fight.

 

I had Curry up in the cards,but yeah, McCallum was climbing up his way.

 

Foremans fight against Jimmy Young being seen as another Rumble in the Jungle. There might be a handful of HWs who've ever lived who could beat peak Jimmy Young in a 12 rounder with no knockdowns and George won 5 rounds. There is no shame in failing to knock out Jimmy Young which Foreman was very close to doing per Youngs own admission.

Foreman got knocked down in the final round because he was losing his balance wildly swinging for a hail mary. The fight was close enough where a knockdown in the final round would have made the fight a draw in spite of an earlier point deduction. If not for that deduction a knockdown would have won the fight.


Especially when you throw in the heat there is no shame in this outcome at all. It actually proved that Foreman could contest a full fight and acquited him of any suspicions people might have had about his cardio after Rumble in the Jungle. If Foreman had never returned it'd be the only thing on Foremans resume that would have suggested his 2nd career was even possible.

How Foreman handled the fight and the knockdown after the fact is a totally different thing.