Quote Originally Posted by THE THIRD MAN View Post
George was fooled completely by Ali who was throwing right leads all night and throwing combinations directly after. (see 30 seconds into round 1, see final 10 seconds of round 3) George was spent before Ali began the rope a dope tactics in full by round 4. George fought the same way as he did against Frazier, the difference being Ali was just as big as he was. Ali always did well against opponents who were his size (Williams and Terrell) Frazier was difficult for Ali because of Frazier's constant head movement and his ducking and weaving, he had further to go to hit Frazier while George was right there in front of him at the perfect height to have his face pummeled. Big George did not have the defensive skills to avoid this and Ali knew it and exploited it in the ring. George was an easy target. Ali's tactics were risky, firing off right hand leads could've led to disaster, but George was not equipped well enough to handle it and adapt.
Ali was landing those right leads at will as George was standing right in front of him and i have a picture on my wall that moves faster than big George so he was getting hit regularly, while Foreman was relying totally on brute strength to wear Ali down. It didn't work as he expended all of his energy by mid fight and was knocked out in 8. In any rematch big George would've needed to find another game plan. Ali was a very smart boxer and tactical fighter, he did his homework, while he was working out the poems and the pre fight rhetoric i believe he was a man who was working out his opponent a lot more than people gave him credit for at the time. Many boxing scribes actually believed Ali's life was in danger in this fight, yet Ali was already telling anybody prepared to listen at the time exactly how to fight big George. " Here comes George with a left.........here comes George with a right............."
George fought an idiotic fight against Ali, remember though he was only 25, and by that time Ali was a wiley old veteran. If you've ever been in a fight, even a street fight and "punched yourself out" you'd get an idea how Foreman might have felt. You're spent and/or got nothing left, and your opponent pretty much has you at his mercy.