What if: “The Rumble in the Jungle” II?

What if. What if we could travel through time? What if the internet was never invented? What if we could live forever? What if has no limits; everything has a “what if” attached to it, in one way or another. As a boxing fan, there is one “what if” in particular that has always fascinated me for as long as I can remember, perhaps more so than any other: What if Muhammad

Ali and George Foreman had met for a second time? Well, of course we’ll never know with any certainty how a rematch between the two would have unfolded. All we can do (as in all hypothetical scenarios) is identify and weigh up all the possible outcomes, pertain them to what knowledge or evidence we have, then attempt to decide upon the most likely conclusion. In short, we make an informative (and hopefully objective) guess. It’s a guessing game, one though which has no definitive answers; but it’s fun to speculate, don’t you think? Anyway, I’m going to give it a try.

Had they fought again, I’d expect the atmosphere surrounding and leading up to the fight itself to bare absolutely no resemblance to that of their legendary 1974 clash. That night, Ali showed all of us (Foreman included I suspect) that no man is invincible. He humbled “Big George” in front of the whole world and in doing so, irreparably shattered his aura of invincibility. Foreman was this unbeatable monster, not just in the eyes of everyone around him, but in his own mind as well. That belief, that total self confidence he had was, in essence, the core of his destructiveness; it made him appear unstoppable as he literally steamrolled through a litany of opponents, or as he probably viewed them – prey – with breathtaking ease. He was almost like a force of nature, he had to be, who else could have done what he did to Joe Frazier? Muhammad Ali, for all intents and purposes, knocked that self-belief out of him; as a fighter, he was never the same as a result. His entire intrinsic makeup changed after losing, he was no longer invincible.

That’s why (in my opinion) Foreman would have not only lost a second fight with Ali, but been dominated. Foreman had something of an “it’s only a matter of time” attitude in his fight with Ali, he went out in every round expecting to knock him out. When he didn’t get him in the first, he was going to get him in the second. When he didn’t get him in the second, he was going to get him in the third. When he didn’t get him in the third….and so on it went, that was the pattern of the fight. The possibility of losing or getting knocked out just didn’t occur to Foreman. He exhibited absolutely no fear, nor did he have any respect for Ali as an opponent; he thought he could walk through him, just like he had countless others. That arrogance, which had made him so utterly devastating throughout his career, backfired against Ali.

Is that why he lost, because he had the wrong tactics?

Yes, he fought a stupid fight. He also fought stupid fights against Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, yet he annihilated them both inside of two rounds respectively. You see, George Foreman was never a smart boxer, he was crude, clumsy, but most of all phenomenally powerful. He used that power to overwhelm his opponents, not to outsmart them. There was nothing measured or precise about him, he simply cut off the ring and viciously unloaded his clubbing shots; Foreman was an animal, he never held back. And guess what? he was the same seek-and-destroy animal against Muhammad Ali. The only difference was for the first time, the man in front of him didn’t crumble at his feet.

I honestly believe that had Foreman been hitting any other heavyweight in history with the monstrous blows he was connecting with on Ali, the fight would have been over by the third round. It’s a true testament to Ali’s remarkable durability that he was able to withstand such a brutal assault; even though he managed to block and evade a number of Foreman’s wild swings, he absorbed a sickening beating against the ropes. The hellacious shots that thudded into his body and head, round after round would surely have been enough to cave in anyone else. He truly had a cast-iron chin and concrete body, it was just unbelievable. By the time Foreman realized he had been caught in Ali’s trap, he had almost punched himself completely out. He carried on throwing wild punches though, missing, and falling over the ropes; What else could he do?

Foreman finally succumbed in the eighth round, totally exhausted.

Now the rematch. For those of you who think that Foreman would have fought a “smarter” fight and defeated Ali the second time around, let me tell you why I think you’re wrong. I tend to think that Foreman would have found himself in an “I’m damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t” type of situation. He had to put pressure on Ali to stand any chance of beating him, but would he really have had the confidence to tear into him again? I’m not sure. In reality there’s more than a good chance he would have been a bit gun shy.

I can see him holding back, perhaps thinking, “uh-oh, I’m going to wear myself out again if I go all out.” And with the knowledge that he couldn’t take this man out with one or two monster shots, he most likely would have kept more to the centre of the ring and tried to tackle him more intelligently; by doing that though he would have in a sense been relenting and ultimately playing into Ali’s hands.

Think about it, hammering away at him against the ropes was the only way Foreman could hurt Ali – but he couldn’t do that without getting tired or picked off. So he holds back, but that allows Ali to utilize his far superior speed and boxing ability, the fight would then become even more one sided. It’s lose-lose. Although we’ll never know, I just can’t see how Muhammad Ali would lose a second “rumble” with George Foreman. I guess you could say he had his number.