Rope-a-dope is a
boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
fighting style used most famously by
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali is a retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome...
(who coined the term) in the Rumble in the Jungle against
George ForemanGeorge Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur....
.
The
rope-a-dope is performed by a boxer assuming a protected stance, in Ali's classic pose, lying against the ropes, and allowing his opponent to hit him, in the hope that the opponent will become tired and make mistakes which the boxer can exploit in a counterattack.
In competitive situations other than boxing, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, attempting thereby to become the eventual victor.
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali is a retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome...
or Cassius Clay used the
rope-a-dope style of boxing by leaning on the ropes in a handful of his fights, most famously in his first fight with
Joe FrazierJoseph "Billy" Frazier, known as Smokin' Joe , is an Olympic and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, active mostly from the later 1960s to the mid 1970s....
where Frazier landed heavy blows to Ali.
Rope-a-dope is a
boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
fighting style used most famously by
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali is a retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome...
(who coined the term) in the Rumble in the Jungle against
George ForemanGeorge Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur....
.
Technique
The
rope-a-dope is performed by a boxer assuming a protected stance, in Ali's classic pose, lying against the ropes, and allowing his opponent to hit him, in the hope that the opponent will become tired and make mistakes which the boxer can exploit in a counterattack.
In competitive situations other than boxing, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, attempting thereby to become the eventual victor.
Origin of the term
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali is a retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome...
or Cassius Clay used the
rope-a-dope style of boxing by leaning on the ropes in a handful of his fights, most famously in his first fight with
Joe FrazierJoseph "Billy" Frazier, known as Smokin' Joe , is an Olympic and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, active mostly from the later 1960s to the mid 1970s....
where Frazier landed heavy blows to Ali.
This did not discourage Ali from using this strategy again against
George ForemanGeorge Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur....
on October 30, 1974. Foreman was a harder puncher than Frazier, and many felt Ali would have to stay away from Foreman in order to beat him. Ali instead started to lie on the ropes towards the end of the 1st round, and used the ropes throughout the rest of the fight, guarding his head with his gloves. Foreman's strategy for the fight was to cut off the ring and get Ali to the ropes so that he could hit Ali and try to knock him out. Foreman landed constant blows to the body, but had trouble landing punches to the head. Foreman began to tire from all the punches he threw at Ali to no apparent effect, and with the punches he was taking from Ali, Foreman was visibly exhausted and starting to stagger by the 5th round. Ali eventually knocked him out in the 8th round. Ali had regained the
World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe World Heavyweight Championship is the name given to certain championships in professional wrestling. Although various professional wrestling promotions have used the term "world heavyweight championship", it is almost exclusively used as a moniker for the championship that is under competition...
with this strategy of lying on the ropes, and allowed one of the hardest punchers of all time to swing away at him. During training prior to the fight, Ali had done thousands of sit-ups to tighten and tone his midsection, better allowing him to take punches to the torso.
George Foreman went on
Jimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
and said that the term rope-a-dope was actually created by the Ali camp in response to Foreman complaining about being drugged. George Foreman maintains, to this day, that was why it was created, to defuse Foreman's complaints.
Ali further used this strategy as a resting method against
Chuck WepnerChuck Wepner is a former heavyweight boxer from Bayonne, New Jersey. As an obscure boxer he went 15 rounds with world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 fight...
in his next title defense, but finally, before his second title defense against
Ron LyleRon Lyle was a professional boxer.-Early life:Lyle was born to William and Nellie Lyle. He was one of 19 children, and the only one to get in trouble with the law. When he was in his teens, Lyle was arrested and charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old Douglas Byrd in...
, Ali named this style. While being interviewed by
Howard CosellHoward William Cosell was an American sports journalist.-Early life:Cosell was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Nellie and Isidore Cohen, who was an accountant. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents had wanted him to become a lawyer...
, Ali declared that the new name for this method of lying on the ropes was to be called "the rope-a-dope." Ali used this style against many fighters, including Joe Frazier in the "
Thrilla in ManilaThe Thrilla in Manila was the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World, fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975....
."
Fighters are still to this day generally hurt badly when they lie on the ropes.
James ToneyJames "Lights Out" Toney is a professional boxer from Ann Arbor, Michigan.-Early career: Toney had his first professional fight on October 26, 1988, beating Stephen Lee by a technical knockout in the second round...
, like Ali, is an exception to this rule and is effective at fighting while lying on the ropes.
Roy Jones Jr.Roy Jones, Jr. is an American boxer and current NABO and IBC light heavyweight champion. As a professional he has captured IBF championships in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He also won the WBA heavyweight title in his only fight in this weight class...
, too, has been inclined to use this technique in recent years, inviting opponents in while maintaining a high guard and countering between onslaughts. Ali, Toney, and Jones were able to use this method largely because of their defense and most importantly because of their ability to take a punch. Average boxers do not have the ability or the strength to be able to withstand the degree of punishment caused by going into the rope-a-dope, and most fighters who lie on the ropes are knocked out or hurt badly.
The style was emulated in the second fight in the film
Rocky IIIRocky III is the second sequel in the Rocky film series, released in 1982. It is written and directed by and stars Sylvester Stallone as the title character, with Carl Weathers as former boxing rival Apollo Creed, and Talia Shire as Rocky's wife, Adrian.Rocky's opponent is James "Clubber" Lang,...
when Rocky Balboa defeats
James "Clubber" LangJames "Clubber" Lang is a fictional character that appeared as Rocky Balboa's rival in the 1982 film Rocky III. He was played by the popular "bodyguard to the stars" Mr. T, who was 29 years old when the film was launched...
.
A version of this is the style used in Jack London's
A Piece of Steak"A Piece of Steak" was a short story written by Jack London which first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in November of 1909. It took him about half a month to write it and earned him five-hundred dollars.- Plot summary:...
, as Tom King lets the other fighter burn off steam and get sloppy.
A far more exaggerated version would be used in
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
eighth season episode "
The Homer They Fall"The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of The Simpsons
' eighth season and originally aired November 10, 1996. After Homer Simpson realizes he has a bizarre medical condition that renders him unable to be knocked out, he decides to embark on a career as a boxer with Moe Szyslak...
," where Homer Simpson didn't even go to the ropes, but simply stood there and took the punches until his opponents collapsed from exhaustion.