Foreman looked like a man drowning in an ocean while attempting to get up. Then with 20 seconds left in round eight, Ali capped off eight consecutive punches with a picturesque right cross that bounced Foreman off the canvas.

Foreman’s punches were being pushed out there with absolutely no snap in them. Round seven saw Ali toy with a completely gassed Foreman. For all intents and purposes, Foreman was done. Ali employed the same strategy in round six and Foreman’s shots became very deliberate and telegraphed. Then with 30 seconds left in the round, Ali bounced off the ropes and battered a completely spent Foreman with sizzling combination after combination. After four rounds, the young champion looked to have the older legs as he was visibly exhausted.įor the first two and a half minutes of round five, Ali laid up against the ropes and allowed to Foreman to bang incredible booming punches to his ribs. Foreman was tiring because of the African heat, the constant wide punches he was throwing and the wicked combos Ali was blistering him with.

Early in round four, Ali briefly stunned Foreman with a pinpoint right cross. He would lay against the ropes and because Foreman threw wide, gaping punches, Ali would quickly counter with rapid left hook and right cross combos.

Round two and three saw Ali employ his now famous “Rope a Dope” strategy. Beginning with the second round, Ali decided to change up his game plan. Although Ali was able to land at will, he was unable to keep the larger Foreman from getting inside and backing him up against the ropes. Round one saw Ali dance and land several pinpoint combinations to the younger champion’s chin.

Pop thought that Ali, with his movement and experience, could take the champion into the later rounds before knocking him out around rounds 12 or 13. Deep down inside, my father felt Ali would do whatever it takes to beat Foreman and finally regain the title that had been stolen from him over seven and a half years earlier.Īli was a huge underdog going into the fight. My father told me that these reporters were all clowns and that there was no way Ali would lose to Foreman. Over 90 percent of these papers printed articles claiming that the then 32-year-old Ali had absolutely no shot at defeating the powerfully built and strong 25-year-old Foreman. Back then, Ali monopolized the sports pages of newspapers all over the country. My father taught me to read by focusing on boxing magazines and the sports pages of both the New York Post and Daily News. However, at the time, Ali was one of the two names that my father would always talk about with the other being Roberto Clemente. As a six-year-old boy when Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman for Foreman’s heavyweight championship, I hadn’t yet begun my fandom as a fight fan.

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