Ali has strolled it v. Wepner, Lyle and Bugner and been to the bottom-of-the-well v. Frazier. Foreman had a year off and battled his demons of RITJ and is ready to get his title back, but also has a tough slugfest vs Lyle and an easy 5-round tee-off vs Frazier. Lots of talk of a rematch now, but But Ali seems to be avoiding.... until Herbert Muhammad does a deal with Don King and they split $US12 million between them. August 1976. Madison Square Garden. Ali 215, Foreman 225. Who wins?
Nicely done...it was as if The Sly One started this topic. Ali would suffer a great deal of pain in the rematch but he'd pull it off via close decision.
You reckon George's head would be messed-up still...looking at Ali across the ring - all those memories flooding back, probably a bit gun-shy?
Nah, I don't think George would have been gun shy...not at all, he would have been motivated by revenge. However stamina would have still been an issue...and after pounding on Ali for a few rounds, and Ali not going anywhere (due to his insane ability to take punishment) Foreman would have slowed down again and Ali would have come back at him again...only this time Ali wouldn't have had enough left to finish him off.
You reckon Ali's psyche would be unsure of Foreman's power - looking across the ring - all those memories flooding back, thinking "less than 12 months after Manilla....I can do without this"?
Pretty questionable whether rope-a-dope is viable without the looose ropes and oppressive heat. i dont think its even questionable whether Ali could have executed any other strategy vs Foreman by 76 - he couldn't. Foreman probably wins a decision in a sad affair.
Ali in '76 was inferior to his '74 self, no doubt, but had enough still to take the Foreman bombs and outlast him. He wouldn't have needed loose ropes or oppressive heat as allies to vanquish George. The fact remains that Ali was one tough son of a bitch and Foreman's success in those days was predicated upon him knocking out his opponent...and early. Not even Foreman would KO Ali, especially not early..and so from round 8 onward it would be all Ali.
'Rope-A-Dope' is a myth. Used it three times, successful once. As this fight is at MSG, 'temperature conditions' don't apply. Unless Foreman can land, and land often, I prolly think Ali has enough to recover from a few scares and eek-out a pts win as he did with Earnie Shavers a year later
This was around about the time of the 3rd Norton fight. I reckon if Young could outlast Foreman (albeit about a year later), Ali/ Dundee would ensure that he was in good enough shape to outlast Foreman down the stretch. Also, Foreman would be caught between going for the early KO, & risking fading down the stretch, & pacing himself & risking Ali doing just enough to bank rounds.
