The Rumble in the Jungle is...

[mozfonky]

It is a good point that Foreman was extremely good at cutting the ring and I think he'd have success doing so even against the younger Ali, but even a younger Ali was capable and willing to take a beating, and I think the stamina required out of young Foreman to fight a high pressure fight against Ali over 15 would have always been an issue.

ya, me too, and his mental resilience. one thing about liston, if you watch his other fights, his stamina was fantastic, when he fought ali, he was tired by the third round which seem to confirm the stories that he barely trained.

 

[JayE]

ya, me too, and his mental resilience. one thing about liston, if you watch his other fights, his stamina was fantastic, when he fought ali, he was tired by the third round which seem to confirm the stories that he barely trained.

Yeah, true. Liston showed he could go 15 and box a few times. It's a bit of a shame Ali was all wrong for him. Considering his obligations he was likely always a ticking timebomb, but you do wonder that if he didn't run into a guy like Ali (his perfect foil), he might've really cemented himself as a great. Again though, always a ticking timebomb.

 

[Hagler]

Norton/Holmes is always high on my list.

Deservedly so.

 

[deucesarewild]

The greatest fight of all time.

Ok, to be fair, I have not watched every fight ever recorded but I am not sure there would be one to that beats the Rumble in the Jungle when it comes pre fight excitement, location, era, fighters involved, storylines behind the fight and of course the actual fight itself.

I still can't get over the fact that there was a large contingent of people that believed Foreman would actually kill Ali in the ring. Ali, being a shell of his former self was up against the baddest man on the planet in Foreman but Ali had a plan.

The rope-a-dope. Seems simple enough but it wasn't how people tried to fight Foreman. Sitting on the ropes versus a guy like that would surely mean the demise of the average boxer. He was too big and strong and he had murderous intent with every blow he threw. But somehow, Ali's plan works and tires out ol Georgie boy just enough to spring into his own attack and finish the scariest man in Africa.

I think this fight had it all, like it's some biblical bedtime story you tell your kids. I know some might argue the War is the best fight of all time and in terms of action, it's hard to disagree. But the Rumble had so much more cultural significance and possibly the last great performance from the Greatest of all time.

For upsets, sure. But for back and forth drama, Thrilla.

 

[RabbitPunch36]

ya, that was a magical fight, and people wonder why I'm not impressed with these guys today. fights like that....

That fight might be the greatest in boxing history of course 999/1000 a hyped up fight wont be comparable to Frazier vs Ali 1.

 

[defjaam]

I really don't think people give enough credit to the incredible build up this fight had compared to other ones that were mentioned.

I would agree that in terms of action, it wasn't the most exciting fight ever but something like Cooper vs Holyfield doesn't have any cultural or historical significance.

But you honestly could not have scripted the finish any better. Ali is getting battered the entire fight, he does not look good at all but yet he's taunting Foreman the entire time. Foreman at this moment was literally at the peak of his powers, a real killer who was a street fighting legend, a guy who demolished the guys Ali had trouble with. This was supposed to be a walk in the park for George and it was kind of going the way it was supposed to.

Even knowing how it plays out before I watched it doesn't rob me of the drama and intrigue that surrounded that night just like other classic fights that have happened before and since. I'm not sure how long it'll be until we see something that matches the magnitude of the event.

Ali wasn't getting battered, he was leading on all three scorecards by the end of the fight ... He was riding with George's punches and deflecting most of them... He also didn't spend the entire fight on the ropes... He walks towards the ropes to take away George's momentum - then he walks away from the ropes and forces to George to reposition himself. Then he's back on the ropes again and takes George through the same routine.

It was a blend of strategy and instinct due to not being able to deal with the force of nature that George Foreman was by boxing him normally the way he did against physically overmatched opponents like Patterson, Bonavena, Quarry etc.

I don't think it would have worked for anyone else aside from Ali. And it only worked for Ali that day - wouldn't have worked in the rematch.

 

[mozfonky]

That fight might be the greatest in boxing history of course 999/1000 a hyped up fight wont be comparable to Frazier vs Ali 1.

it was, both men fought like their lives depended on it. Both were diminished by this fight but Frazier lost more even though he won. It's no secret that the fight almost killed him, spent weeks in the hospital, had high blood pressure to begin with and all the stress and work took a lot out of him. Ali, as one article said, seemed to have never punched harder, you could hear the shots and some of them had frazier's head blurring from the force. And to think that Ali didn't consider himself to be in top condition and that's why he limited being on his toes. Close fight, the knock down sealed the deal. Larry Merchant thought Ali was robbed because of just how many more punches he landed on joe. It's an interesting thing for him to say because he was an early investor of Joe's, most people who have monetary interests are biased towards there man, not larry, he honestly thought Ali was robbed and I think he still believes that. I don't and I'm the biggest ali fan there is.