[Cerek]

Originally posted by Sir Degrader: Ah yes, the phantom punch. Cerek- I believe you are mistaken. Foreman shot at the body, not at the forearms of Ali, letting Ali, leaning back on loosened ropes have an easier time of taking the punches and throwing counters. Marathon- Wasn't Foreman unawares of the loosened ropes, as Dundee did it prior to the fight and after negotiations?

You're partially right, Sir Degrader. I just happened to catch a re-cast of the fight on ESPN Classic this afternoon. It only showed the 1st, 4th, 5th and 8th round, but those were the main highlights of the fight.

In Round 1, Ali charged straight across the ring at Foreman from the opening bell. He didn't use the "Rope-A-Dope" a single time. He did end up on the ropes a couple of times, but he didn't try to lay back and stay there. He continuously took the fight to Foreman and managed to stagger him with a couple of quick combinations about 2 minutes into the round. Even in the rounds when Ali DID use the "Rope-A-Dope", he still managed to go on the attack and sting Foreman every time. Foreman's face was puffy and bleeding by the 5th round for the combo's Ali kept hitting him with. He only used the "Rope-A-Dope" from about the 4th round on. He did this to conserve his strength while Foreman wasted his.

You're right that Foreman threw punches to the body and head of Ali while he was on the ropes, but Ali covered up so good, that none of the punches landed or did any damage. They were just roundhouse haymakers that never really connected. George did try to throw jabs through Ali's defenses, but Ali kept swatting them to the side and moving his head, so they never connected. All the while, Foreman was getting more and more tired.

Finally, in the 8th round, Ali realized that Foreman was out of gas, and he went on the attack with a vengence. After that, it was all over and Ali knocked Foreman to the ground with a solid right hook over the top that left George glassy-eyed.