[Cerek]

Not really. George Foreman didn't have to go along with the "Rope-A-Dope". He could have stayed in the middle of the ring and waited for Ali to get off the ropes. The problem is that it is usually a big advantage for a boxer to get his opponent "on the ropes". That limits their ability to dodge or escape the punches you're throwing.

Watch the fight sometime. Yeah, Ali is leaning WAY back on the ropes, but he also has his upper body and face completely covered with his arms. Foreman could have attacked the body and pounded him in the ribs, but George was a brawler who always went for the knockout. It isn't the fault of Ali OR his trainer that Foreman just stood there and pounded on Ali's forearms. All that did was use up Foreman's energy without scoring him any significant points. A boxer gets credit for blocking his opponents punches. And Foreman just stood there and beat on the back of Ali's forearms.

It was a brilliantly simple strategy devised by Ali. Maybe the loosened ropes helped a bit, but Foreman is still at fault for falling victim to the strategy. Ali announced BEFORE the fight that he was going to use this strategy, and George didn't make ANY attempts to adapt his boxing style to accomodate it.

Besides, Ali STILL won the fight by a knockout. It wasn't like the fight was won on a decision by the judges. Foreman was stupid enough to come straight ahead and beat on Ali's arms for several rounds (which didn't do him ANY good on the judge's scorecards) and wasted all of his energy on barrages that had NO EFFECT on his opponents.

When he ran out of gas, Ali knocked him on his ass.