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#11 | |
Registered Member
Iron Throne Cult
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Age: 62
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Quote:
As for the points, Foreman DID score points on Ali - especially during the 5th round. That was the round where Ali used the Rope-A-Dope more than the previous rounds. George threw a ton of punches - and some of them did land for points in the body area (and a very few to the head) - but NONE of the punches did any real DAMAGE to Ali. The broadcasters all agreed that Foreman handily won Round 5, but it was obvious that Foreman was fautiged and extremely frustrated. He had won 36 of his 38 fights by KO and it was plain to see that he was getting more and more frustrated that he couldn't land any really hard punches on Ali. So when Ali started covering up, Foreman started throwing roundhouse bombs. Before the fight began, the one of the announcers said it would be a classic battle between two mean that could deal out a lot of damage - one did it with one punch and the other did it with a lot of punches over several rounds. And that is exactly how the fight went. Ali did have "knockout" power in his punches , but he literally approached boxing like a science. He knew that he didn't have to knock his opponent out in one round. Instead, he just had to do a certain amount of damage EACH round and it would eventually wear his opponent out - kinda like chopping down a big tree a little at a time. Ali landed several good punches every round. By Round 4, Foreman's face was getting puffy from the damage, and by round 5, he was bleeding a little. Meanwhile, Foreman kept trying to put Ali away with one punch. He kept trying to "set him up" to land one big haymaker, and Ali just never gave him the chance to do it. When he fought Frazier the year before, Foreman would push Frazier off with one hand, then blast him with the other. He ended up knocking Frazier down 7 times in the 2nd Round. But when he tried to push Ali off and set him up for the knockout punch, Ali managed to slip to the side, or push Foreman's arm off so that George never could get his KO punch set up. Then, by Round 5, Foreman wasn't even trying to set up his punches anymore. He just came in swinging wild. Ali managed to dodge most of those swings and threw counterpunches straight to Foreman's face. It honostly looked like a fight from one of the "Rocky" movies. I couldn't believe how EASY it was for Ali to constantly tag Foreman square in the face. George had a tendency to keep his hands too far apart. That didn't matter in most of his fights because his opponents were usually running away from his knockout power. But Ali stood his ground, dodged Foreman's punches, and then landed one counter-combo after another on Foreman's face. If you ever get a chance to actually watch the fight, I recommend you do so. It is a classic example of a smaller, faster boxer methodically beating down a larger stronger opponent. Ali kept pounding away at Foreman a little each round. He would let Foreman throw a LOT of punches (using up energy) and would tag him over and over with counterpunches. The cumulative effect wore Foreman down a little more each round. After the 7th Round, Ali realized that Foreman just didn't have any strength or endurance left. He supposedly told his trainer "You know what, I'm gonna go ahead and knock him out this round" - and that is exactly what he did. Ali had been doing the Rope-A-Dope for about 3 rounds by then (Rounds 5,6 & 7), but in Round 8, Ali went on the attack and Foreman simply wasn't able to hold him off any longer. A series of punches staggered Foreman, then one solid overhand right straight to the chin put him down for the count. I honostly don't mean to sound like an "Ali-worshipper". The truth is I couldn't STAND him at the time. I was only 11 when he fought Foreman, but I despised Ali's arrogance and was REALLY hoping George would knock him out of the ring and shut his arrogant mouth once and for all. But as I've grown older and watched the fights again, I can't help but admire just how awesome Ali was. He was a master at psychological warfare. His flamboyant tuanting usually gave him a big edge over his opponent before the fight even began. They would come into the fight mad - and a mad opponent is not a "thinking" opponent. Ali would also study his opponents fighting style. He knew exactly WHEN he could expect an opening in his opponent's defenses and he would land combinations that made it look like his opponent was just a stationary punching bag. He called boxing a "sweet science" and that is exactly how he approached it. He trained relentlessly all the time, not just to get in shape for a fight. He stayed in shape 24/7. He also had amazingly quick reflexes and a lot of power to back it up. Ali said one of his best techniques was to hit an opponent while he was backing away - because his opponent would chase him and never be expecting to get hit by a punch. Then the opponents own forward momentum just added to the impact of Ali's punch. Was Ali the greatest fighter of all time? Absolutely! No question about it. Because NO other fighter ever STUDIED the art of boxing like Ali did. He literally knew every trick in the book, and he invented several new ones to boot. He had tremendous power coupled with lightning fast reflexes. Early in his career, he would often drop his hands completely. His opponent would rush in at the "open" target, only to get hit with a flurry of punches before he ever had a chance to throw one of his own. Ali was a master at maneuvering his opponent into a vulnerable position, pounding him with a devestating combination, then backing away before a single punch could be thrown at him. No other boxer ever developed such complete control over every aspect of the sport as Ali did.
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#12 | |
Emerald Dragon
![]() Join Date: December 10, 2003
Location: UK
Age: 41
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Quote:
A boxing match is such because of it's scoring system, as much as because of the style of combat.
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#13 | |
Registered Member
Iron Throne Cult
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#14 | |
40th Level Warrior
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Quote:
A boxing match is such because of it's scoring system, as much as because of the style of combat. [/QUOTE]I'm saying that if a certain group of ifluential people would have had an interrest in a Foreman victory that particular game, it would have happened.
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#15 |
Emerald Dragon
![]() Join Date: December 10, 2003
Location: UK
Age: 41
Posts: 961
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Doesnt effect how scoring rules work though.
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#16 | |
Lord Soth
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Location: Melbourne FL
Age: 61
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