On October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman took part in arguably the most famous fight in boxing history. The Rumble in the Jungle featured incredible action between two of the best heavyweights ever, with Ali’s eighth-round knockout a timeless moment in sports. So why did we never see a rematch?
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In the sixties and seventies, it was customary for the great heavyweights of that time to run fights back. Sonny Liston twice beat Floyd Patterson, Ali twice beat Liston, Foreman twice beat Joe Frazier, Ali twice beat Frazier and Ken Norton. Meanwhile, the biggest and richest fight of that period was a one-act play.
The Sporting News takes a deep dive into the reasons why a sequel to The Rumble in the Jungle was always destined for the fantasy section.
Why was there no Muhammad Ali-George Foreman rematch?
Following his first professional defeat, Foreman took 15 months out of the ring. When he returned, it was against the super-dangerous Ron Lyle, who floored him twice before succumbing to a fifth-round knockout in an epic brawl. Back with a bang in what was later named The Ring Magazine Fight of the Year (1976), Foreman’s goal was to regain the championship.
“Ali called me at home in California, just prior to my fight with Lyle,” Foreman recalled. “He said, I hear you want a rematch and that’s fine, but you must re-hire Dick Sadler as trainer. I said that Sadler would never work my corner again and Ali responded, angrily, by saying there would be no rematch.”
In a 1995 biography, entitled By George, Foreman was not at a loss for words regarding Sadler’s game plan in Zaire.
“In the Ali fight, Dick Sadler was the chief second. Every round he was telling me to attack, attack, attack,” wrote Foreman. “He was slapping my leg in the corner, urging me to get him, telling me I had Ali hurt. Not once did he ask me to stop and let Ali bring the fight to me. I was the champion that night, but it was as though he was burning me out on purpose.”
It’s interesting to note that Sadler would turn up in Ali’s corner for the trilogy fights with both Frazier (1975) and Norton (1976)
In March 1977, Foreman was outpointed by Jimmy Young in Puerto Rico. Soon thereafter, he became an ordained minister and retired from the sport for 10 years by which time Ali was long retired.
Foreman sensationally regained the heavyweight championship by knocking out Michael Moorer on November 5, 1994, in Las Vegas. At 45, he remains the oldest man ever to win that title.
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What would George Foreman have done differently in a Muhammad Ali rematch?
Before being spectacularly knocked out in The Rumble in the Jungle, Foreman had punched himself out.
Ali leaned against the ropes using a strategy known as the “rope-a-dope” and allowed the champion to pound away for several rounds. While Ali absorbed punishment, he defended himself brilliantly and also landed scores of flush counterpunches.
Needless to say, if Foreman had a second chance, he would have employed different tactics and acclaimed trainer Gil Clancy would have been at the helm.
“Gil talked strategy on an Ali rematch more than once,” said Foreman. “We would have approached it like a distance fight. You go out and win three rounds, then coast by holding back your punches, then you up the pace again. After you get your second wind you can close aggressively. I would have paced myself but kept my big punches in store for when needed.”
Did Muhammad Ali duck a George Foreman rematch?
There’s a train of thought that Ali, who was rumored to have passed large amounts of blood in his urine after the first fight, didn’t want to face Foreman again.
“Ali was the bravest man I ever shared the ring with, and it all came down to the issue we had with Dick Sadler,” countered Foreman before switching the narrative slightly. “Strange things can happen in boxing matches that fighters never mention, and I may have caught him with one punch that he wasn’t willing to take again.
“A really heavy body shot bent Ali over at the waist and it was obvious he was hurt. When the bell rang to end that particular round, he gave me a look and I remember thinking to myself, this is the bravest man I’ve ever faced. Despite chasing the rematch, I asked myself many times if I truly wanted to get back in the ring with him.
“If Ali was a touch scared of fighting me again, I was glad of it.”
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Who would have won a Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman rematch?
What if Foreman and Ali had renewed ties? How big would that rematch have been? And who would have won it?
“Knowing Ali, he would have outfoxed me again,” Foreman told The Ring. “I wish I had been more observant at the time, but I ignored all the warning signs with this guy. I was in Madison Square Garden, on March 8, 1971, when Joe Frazier knocked Ali down and his legs flew up in the air. I turned to someone and said that’s the end of that and when I looked back Ali was on his feet.
“Doesn’t that tell you something about a human being? What a great fighter he was.”
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