Zaire, Foreman's (lack of) corner and strategy

He was getting rocked by lead rights.

 

As soon as Ali went to the ropes in round 2, he repeatedly hit Foreman with straight shots. Ali took some good body shots but landed most of the clean head shots.

Foreman didn’t merely lose due to fatigue. He was outfought all night long.

 

Every cornerman has a bad day, same as every coach in every sport. You can have what looks like a really good game plan and not be prepared for something you didn’t expect.

Everyone Foreman had gotten on the ropes, he had crushed. Some of those body shots George put on Ali in I think the fourth and fifth round were wrecking balls that would have caved in any mere mortal. But Ali was mentally tougher than maybe any fighter who ever lived — he’s taunting George: “Is that all you got?” “Don’t let me down George, they told me you could hit hard.” Un-freaking-believable.

If you’re in George’s corner as the fight unfolded, with no knowledge that we have of how things would turn out, you’re probably mostly happy with how it’s going and … then your man starts to wilt. And Ali is coming off those ropes in spurts with explosive combinations.

I think it would have been ridiculous in real time to tell George to back off rather than try to bomb Ali out as he did. Everything in his career added up to ‘a couple more rounds of this, maybe even just a few more punches, and we’ll go home with a KO win.’

You can take anyone from Eddie Futch to Freddie Brown to Ray Arcel and find a fight where their game plan just didn’t work when cornering this particular guy in that particular fight. Happens to the best of ‘em, literally … doesn’t mean they’re overrated. Nobody bats 1.000.

 

Yeah, it's a fair point. When you're an exceptional puncher and keep whacking away at the other guy's unprotected body, it's expected to do something.

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, is the thing. Barely a soul thought Ali was going to survive Foreman's onslaught and by the time they would have figured out he would Ali was still fresh and Foreman somewhat diminished. It's boxing, it happens. It's inevitably easy after the event.

 

He didn't have so many other tracks, though. As I said, I do think he was forgetting about the jab a bit, even though Ali was beating him to it. But otherwise I don't think there's much he could have done. Making it into a chess match? Ali wins that all day.

 

I agree. Without the shots he took from Foreman, Ali may very possibly be alive today.

 

I recently watched the 15 - 20 mins prior to first bell in Zaire.

We know Foreman kept Ali waiting 5 mins. Just on his own, Ali looked a little bit nervous but nothing unreasonable.

Then to keep himself warmed up and focused, Ali began shadow boxing very energetically - a sight to behold in its own right. He never looked more ready to fight.

Still, it was no mean amount of energy he had to expend awaiting Foreman’s arrival.

Then Foreman finally came jogging to the ring - did Foreman always or ever do that before?

Warmed right up, a more comfortable Ali began invoking the support and chant of the spectators - building it perfectly for his own psyche.

I dunno, but if anyone appeared least comfortable and most nervous, I would say it was Foreman. Even how George’s head was held - he appeared tense in the neck muscles.

Foreman’s warm up activities appeared awkward and clumsy - not too practical. Otherwise, he appeared lost as he waited for the final instructions and first bell. Not a lot of dialogue between he and his team.

Ali was now smiling and chatting easily with his corner - you can even see Pacheco smiling at something Ali said. George also sat down in his corner - instead of staying on his feet.

Even when the first bell rang, Foreman was facing his corner, still holding the ropes and stretching - as Ali came darting across the ring.

It was a bit strange - it wasn’t as if Foreman was just quietly confident - he appeared subdued and, perhaps, slightly overawed.

Upon first bell, it seemed as if Ali hit the ground well and truly running at speed whereas Foreman looked like he was barely moving off from a standing start.

I know Foreman had his aura - but Ali carried his own aura of a certain invincibility and capacity to overcome the odds. Maybe Ali’s own aura affected Foreman a little bit at the 11nth hour, maybe not.

Ali made a very interesting remark - I think before the fight, not after.

He said, words to the effect that, “While you all might be shocked IF I beat Foreman you would be more shocked to see me (Ali) on the deck being counted out.

Even for those who intellectually picked against Ali to lose by KO - that would seem like paradoxical reaction but it when it came to Ali, it strangely rings true imo. Ali KO’d in two rounds? That was still something that had to be seen to be believed.

Ali’s own aura had its own strong effects and emotional anchors - and I’m not entirely sure that Foreman didn’t feel a little bit of same himself.

Just imo and if that opinion is wrong and over cooked , then Foreman might’ve been simply overconfident and unrealistically bent on instant destruction - ignoring Ali’s abilities and career resume to date - an error in judgment that Foreman did allude to some years later.

 

oh come on JT, the writers and ex pros who thought this were many but Ali had more than enough people backing him, and hindsight, if anything, has actually made this upset bigger than it was (as short as 14-5 and 11-5 at fight time in Vegas and London respectively IIRC). Liston I was the much bigger upset.

Out of the 5 big fight previews in BN, 3 picked Ali to win, as did others, Colin Hart I believe (according to Stevie G) and the Chicago Tribune I think it was who got the 8th round stoppage. There was also a poll of writers and pundits- 44 of them, and the overall votes were very close.

 

Well without being a fighter he may be alive today. He took much more to the head vs Frazier and Shavers.

 

I agree. I think he would've gotten Parkinson's regardless, as Parkinson's is something you either get or don't however it wouldn't have been nearly as severe nor come near as early had he not laced up the gloves in the first place.

 

Most of what I've read in my lifetime had him a lamb to the slaughter. Common odds were 4-1 for Foreman and 7-1 for Liston. At any rate it was a big upset. No less an authority than Archie Moore was literally praying Foreman didn't kill Ali. So while Ali had his share of backers most of those not in his corner expected a slaughter.

 

No matter the picks before the fight, if there were live odds in the beginning of the second round, when Ali moved to the ropes, I'm pretty sure they would have sky rocked in Foreman's favour.

So the question is for those who think Foreman fought a stupid fight, what should he have done differently? Waved Ali out to the centre of the ring, refused to engage him on the ropes?

I can't see that as very good corner advice at the time. They should have told him not to to forget his jab, though, to try and use that as a set up. In an ideal world he would have fought Ali with the more patient pressure that Norton utilised, but Foreman wasn't Norton and there was nothing his corner could have done to make him into him on the night. He was a long guard stand, stand up fighter with little head movement, whereas Norton fought out of a crouch, often with a tight cross arm defence and the jab coming from underneath. And had much better stamina than Foreman.

I just think his options were quite limited. Foreman wouldn't win a tactical affair, so going all out of with his physical approach, which was Foreman trademark after all, was the logical option. Yes, use the jab a bit more, but that isn't at all as easy as it sounds, though. Make it into a jabbing contest and Ali wins that all night. To strike the perfect balance between craft and physicality against a much superior boxer is one thing in hindsight, but another in real time.

 

It's not like he wasn't landing either. There were a few reports Ali was urinating blood after the fight, i never did find out if it was gospel.