Overlooked Reasons Why Muhammad Ali Beat George Foreman

Clay , would have danced around him and turned him all night.
I think the prime Ali, Clay from the 60s would have made George look silly.

 

Ali was past it in 1976 and was for all intents and purposes done in 1977.

 

Ali was declining by the year after late 1975/Manilla, older & absorbed damage in the Frazier fights, so it is not at all unusual to pick Foeman over an even 1976 Ali. As I would.

I can see your case for prime Ali losing, but with his greater speed & endurance I would still pick him.
But not necessariky under conditions in Zaire-heat's gonna be a little worse on somneone expending more energy, but themain problemn is that ring was SMALL-& soft.
Ali resorted the the rope a dope because he saw Saw he would take 2 steps for Foreman's one-who was faster than he thought-& cushy rings hurt movers/endurance.

However he had an advantage that he may have needed to win in Zaire, at least considerations those conditions.
Getting away with frequent hands behind the neck & pulling Foreman down with his body weight.
I dunno if he does this so effectively in the 1960's, & he never needed to.

The loose ring ropes was a problem with equipment size/competence, Dundee did not cheat, & I do not know if he needed that to win.

As much as I admire Ali in Zaire, without this cheating & he was already out on his feet once or twice, AND considering ring conditions, he may well have lost.

 

Prime Ali was early 70's Ali, when he trained. He wasn't the waterbug boxer type who was good until the stakes got raised. In the 70's he was able to dig down and bruise. And he either got much stronger or realized how strong he was, A lot of Ali's success against Foreman was due to his STRENGTH. He was manhandling George with skill and muscle. I met Ali in 1990 and he was still a very impressive dude, bigger than the measurables, just not built like your ordinary 6-3 guy, even at that age. Casuals get enamored with his speed but he was a complete athlete.

 

Those are the main circumstances mentioned when the fight is brought up, along with Foreman being cut before the fight and not sparring for nearly a month prior to it. You could add him being an arrogant fool and not bothering to watch Ali's tapes, as well as displaying the single lowest ring IQ in the history of boxing because he was on a power-drunk bender at the time.

Tony Galento displayed higher ring intelligence in his fight with Louis, because he actually wanted to foul the hell out of da bum, only he was stopped by his corner.

 

The postponement is a good one, and not just because of the cut limiting Foreman somewhat (I believe he did spar after it healed but probably didn’t peak again).

But it also kept him imprisoned in an unfamiliar land where Ali had turned himself into the hero returning to his roots. To Ali, fighting in Africa was a pilgrimage, a spiritual experience. He soaked it up and soaked it into his very being.

Ali seized upon the cut and postponement in his famous ‘The man want out’ press conference calling upon the forces in Zaire to keep Foreman from leaving — the truth was, there was great fear that if Foreman left the fight (and huge payday) would fall apart and never come back together again. Ali called for the armed forces and police to search all cars, all planes, all elephant caravans (haha) to make sure George didn’t sneak out.

Ali was also more comfortable in uncomfortable surroundings than Foreman … or perhaps than any fighter and most men who ever lived. He was a citizen of the world who belonged to the world. Whether Africa or the Philippines or Europe or wherever, Ali felt at home. He surrounded himself with people he liked and trusted and they created a comfort zone that traveled well.

On a technical end, addressing some of the points of @Showstopper97 — we don’t know if George would have adeptly cut off Ali so well in a faster ring. Part of the reason Ali went to the ropes was the canvas padding was so thick Ali couldn’t maneuver the way he wanted, so in a regular Madison Square Garden ring it may have been different … or maybe not.

But whatever the case, Ali had one weapon that we saw repeatedly against George that would probably have worked against any version of Foreman provided Ali wasn’t on his last legs: that right cross. He landed it at will, and he landed it solidly with force. He could not miss. It was shooting fish in a barrel, and I believe that would have been the case regardless of when or where.

Finally, Ali was the best mental fighter probably ever. He could get in someone’s head like nobody else. He could also psyche himself up in ways most could not. When people say boxing is 90 percent mental, Ali won 100 percent of that 90 percent, so to speak. Where others cowered from Sonny Liston’s glare, he instead rose to bully the bully. He got Frazier so mad the man was seeing red and wasn’t thinking. He basically dominated the mental game against Foreman, and I think that would have always been the case.

 

Ali was a Master at finding ways to win, especially after facing an opponent once already. I'm probably in the minority in thinking that an immediate rematch may have gone even worse for George. The Greats have always been like that. They adjust and it gets harder fighting them a second time. Joe Louis was another Great who was the same way. There have been others.

 

Unless it's Ali of '66 or before, I don' t think he is outmaneuvering Foreman for an extended period of time. Muhammad never argued or haggled about the ring in Zaire, because he knew he likely won't be able to stick and move against George, just like he wasn't too keen on boxing him in the middle of the ring post round 1.

Ali only landed the right cross at will in the first round when Foreman was carrying his left absurdly low. Likely overconfidence or a slow start. Coming into the second round, Foreman leverage guarded or muffled most of the crosses forcing Ali to commit to the rope-a-dope more and more, until he got George tired and desperate for a knockout. The fight is best watched without a sound and at slow motion, because commentators and the crowd's reactions really change the perception of it. There were many moments when Foreman had Ali almost disarmed and incapable of throwing a significant punch because of the long guard an an extended rear hand. Norton was in a similar situation, except in Zaire, Foreman became the dope and believed he can knock a man of unbreakable will.

 

George just wasn’t that good.

 

Clay actually fought and defeated six brothers in the amateurs-the Turner brothers-knocking out one, named Cyrus. Ironically, one of the Turners was said to have been Nat Turner, of no relation. No relation to Clay. Whereas some of the other Turners were distantly related, theoretically. But those were simpler times then.