Why was Ali allowed to continue his Rope-A-Dope tactics in his fight with Foreman?

Question

It seems to me that a lesser fighter wouldn't have been be allowed to get away with such tactics, at least not for very long.

Answer 1

Have you "watched" the "rumble in the jungle"? At NO time did Ali seemed hurt by Foreman. Secondly, it was a different era in boxing, before all of the "let's save everyone from themselves". Boxing was always better when fighter's had to go 15 rounds. They HAD to pace themselves. They couldn't lay on one another because then they wouldn't have anything left for rounds 13, 14 and 15.

Answer 2

If you watch the entire fight, without a doubt you will see that Ali was in TOTAL control of the match from the first round on. I don't truly believe he had planned in advance to use the rope-a-dope tactics. But, whether he planned it or not, Ali was simply the better fighter. Ali was a little too old, and there is no doubt he was letting Foreman wear himself out. Ali was/is/and always will be considered - the best trained, smartest, and fastest heavyweight to this day. He was in excellent shape for the "Rumble in the Jungle" especially for his age. But, to answer your question; Muhammad Ali was NOT in trouble when he was being wailed on by Foreman. Had he been in trouble the ref would have had to stop the fight. Again, watch the video. Ali was "in control" of that fight from the very beginning. Quite simply, had he been in trouble, he would NOT have been able to knock Foreman out. BTW; there was a lot of contention, in some circles, that the ref had not given a long enough count. But, like I said, it would NOT have mattered if the fight would have continued. Foreman would have still lost. If the fight would have lasted the rest of that year, the outcome would have been the same. The best boxer won, period.

Answer 3

The rope a dope tactics worked & the ref never stepped in because he was taking massive body shots & never seemed hurt. Most times guys are pinned on the ropes & the ref steps in its because of numerous shots to the head not the body. Also if a guy takes a massive body shot they usually go down ala Oscar De La Hoya vs Bernard Hopkins. Ali was also talking to Foreman the whole time & I'm sure that a ref can tell if a guy is hurt or just taking the punishment the way Ali was. Most guys get hit with a good body shot they usually don't comeback by asking their opponent is that all they got!!!

Answer 4

The rope a dope is not a illegal tatic in boxing. Any boxer can
lay on the ropes and let his opponet wail away at him. Ali was
so good at covering up and avoiding the lethal punches. It was a very good ploy to use against Foreman because Foreman had the reputation that if he hit you in the arms, he would break your arm. Ali was in the best condition that he ever was in to be able to take all of those punches that he took that night. Most boxers are not able to use this strategy
because they are not condition for it. Think what would of happen to Norton or Frazier if they would have laid on the ropes and let Foreman flail away at them. The fights would
have been a lot shorter. Foreman knocked out Norton with
a body blow, and Norton wasn't a good boxer but he did have a very muscled body.

Answer 5

Here we go again. The conspiracy theorists are frothing at the mouth again. The referee did not stop the fight because Ali was never in serious trouble. He took possibly the hardest punches ever thrown in a boxing ring ( Foreman said that he hit Ali with the hardest punches that he had ever hit anybody with ) and fought back as if he had never been touched, absolutely amazing, no wonder Foreman made up all those conspiracy excuses but thank goodness he apologised for saying them as well.

Answer 6

this might not answer the question; but i just watched the clip and if your talking about the same rope-a-dope in round 8 of rumble in jungle, ali knew what he was doing.

Ali was up against it, kind of numb but well conditioned, just taking a few tricking foreman to think he was tired. then with 10 seconds left ali comes out of the corner and just "inialates" foreman like he was fresh, real clever move that does happen alot

Answer 7

This is going to piss off a lot of Ali fans, but I don't think the "rope a dope" was a choice Ali made. It was an act of desperation by a great fighter trying to survive against one of the heaviest hitters in heavyweight history. It wasn't like Ali had a choice, Forman forced Ali to cover up an survive. Believe me, Ali wasn't getting away with anything, he was absorbing punishment trying to avoid getting knocked out. It was amazing he survived, and I think they let it go on as long as it did to see how much Ali could take.

Few boxers have the ability to be a heavy bag for their opponent until the opponent punches himself out. Then have enough left to KO the guy who beat on them for 8 rounds. Amazing.

Answer 8

This was brilliant on Ali's part and he was able to deal with Foreman's temper and weaken up by using this tactic.

It's not an illegal tactic.

most modern day fighters can't do it because they don't have the speed Ali had.

Answer 9

If Frasier was allowed to go down 6 times against Big George, there was no way in heck Ali would be stopped for rope-a-doping. Different era.

Answer 10

That fight was a set-up from the day they signed the contract! The first time Ali leaned back and his head went all the way to the 5th row, Foreman should have walked out! Besides, for what ever reason you believe ( I have my own theories), Foreman obviously wasn't at full power!