BoxRec

Does anyone know what the scoring was in the Ali-Foreman fight? I can't find it anywhere and I've always been curious.

Search in the archive.

I found it a few weeks ago when looking. I don't know where the person found the scorecard though.

Phil

The scoring was as follows:
Zack Clayton 69-66
Artie Aidala 70-65
? Amartekio 70-61
All in favour of Muhammad Ali.

So much for effective aggressiveness.

70-61?

If you look back in the OLD FORUM, you'll see that Foreman was leading......needs to be checked

Phil

In the Old Boxrec Forum they have the same scores, only the other way around.

Looking at the fight, it would make more sense if the scoring was in Foreman's favour, but according to Jan Skotnicki's book on heavyweight title fights, the scorecards all had Ali ahead.
I don't understand the 70-61 scoreline either, but it's there in black & white!

I have the following judges/scores --

Zack Clayton 69-66
Nouriddine Adela 70-65
James Taylor 70-61

Personally, I had Foreman ahead. I'm old school when it comes to scoring, I don't go for that ropeadope nonsense. Ali sent too much time on the ropes or inactive. He would often go 30-seconds or more during the rounds without throwing a punch. That doesn't get it done for me. I don't see how anyone could possibly have scored it 70-61. That's ludicrous.

Below is a post I've made in the past of my analysis of the Ali/Foreman fight. I disagree with the movle ALI and their depiction of the fight. TIP


A stumble in the jungle revisited.
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When I first saw the Ali/Foreman fight on closed circuit I thought Ali was taking a lot of punishment on the ropes. It wasn't until 15 years or so went by when it was rebroadcast that I realized Ali took little punishment and handled George with EASE. I 've noticed over the years comments about George landing on Ali with everything but the kitchen sink. Well I'd like to clear the air of those misconceptions. George landed little on Ali and much of what he landed was blocked, slipped or Muhammad had George in a position to significantly decrease his power. Ali literally landed at will and HAD NO DIFFICULTY in this fight. To illustrate the above I'll go through each round of the fight and some pre and post commentary. The comments were taken from the rebroadcast.

Pre fight - "He could tag me with one good punch, but a wise man wouldn't bet on it." (Ali taliking seriously with some fans)

Pre fight- "Fighters know when fighters are in condition." (Ali talking about George's lack of stamina and akwardness.)

Pre fight- "I go out and try and do the same to everbody. I won't try and change tactics." (George sometime before the fight.

Post fight- "We didn't think Ali would be a problem. He had trouble with Frazier and Norton who we beat easy." ( George years later in assessment of Ali before the fight.)

Post fight- "In the corner we couldn't see how Ali was taking advantage of those wide punches." (Ferdie Pacheco)

Post fight- "It wasn't close was it? When I knocked him out was it?" (Ali mockingly to the press, right after the fight.)

Post fight- "I told ya. I didn't dance for a reason. Ya can't say my legs are gone... I want all boxers to put this in the page of boxing. Staying on the ropes is a beautiful thing, with a heavyweight. When you make him shoot his best shots and you know he's not hitting you. I would have gave George only two rounds of steady punching, and after that he was mine." (Ali to the press, right after the fight.)

Here's my scoring and breakdown of the fight rd by rd.

Round one- Ali does some moving, lands some sharp jabs and rights. George landed some punches but the power was greatly reduced because Ali was holding him and taking away leverage. Ali's round 10-9

Round two- George did land a couple of body shots when Muhammad wasn't holding him but Ali landed many more sharp and clear punches. Ali 10-9

Round three- George is very aggressive and lands some body shots but also misses badly. Ali lands sharp combinations to the head. George looks bad and I'm not impressed with him missing so much and getting tagged with those combo's. The round is close to even in my book but I'll give it to George 10-9

Round four- Ali lands a couple of 3-4 punch comb's cleanly. George lands some body shots but only when Ali is holding him and negating power. Ali seems unconcerned and lands at will when he chooses to. Ali 10-9

Round five - George lands a couple of clean body shots and Ali lands a very sharp left hook. George is tiring but continues to pummel Ali with weak pawing punches and an occaisional heavier one that Ali blocks repeatedly. The last 30 seconds Ali lashes out with several clean and sharp shots to the head. Geroge was active but landed little of anything significant. Ali made him miss a lot, tired him and landed some very nice shots. Ali's round 10-9.

Round six- Ali lands many sharp jabs and rights in the first minute. George does little landing but is very aggressive for the next 90 seconds, then Ali again lashes out with very sharp jabs to the head. Ali'ds round 10-9

Round seven- Not much in the first minute George continues missing, Ali lands some hard jabs and rights. Ali 10-9

Round eight- Ali throws some sharp shots. George lands one right and pretty much is pawing at Ali. Muhammad throws some sharp punches off the ropes which have George off balance. Ali lands a combination with a very sharp and hard right to the jaw. George is stunned and goes down and counted out. He rises at ten but is finished.

My scorecard on the 10 pt must before the knockout Ali 69 Foreman 64

IMO the fight wasn't even close. George got his ears boxed off and hardly landed anything of a telling nature on Ali. Ali EASILY blocked or slipped Georges punches or was holding him so Foreman wasn't getting any leverage. It appeared Ali could almost land at will, but decided to let George tire before putting on the finishing touches. Ali was very confident before this fight and recognized that Foreman's slow cumbersome punches would be easy to slip or block. He was also very aware of George's stamina problems. George looked like a clumsy bar room brawler in there against a sharp skilled boxer.

I'm sure there will be some disagreement in my assessment of the fight, however I suggest people watch it closely before getting to worked up.
Regards TIP