How Ukraine Used Muhammed Ali's Rope-A-Dope Strategy To Smash Putin

Muhammed Ali defeated George Foreman in one of the most masterful displays of strategy ever seen in the boxing ring. Ukraine is doing the same to Russia.

Ali knocks out Foreman in1974, Kinshasa, Zaire. Image via AP

by Ben Cohen

When Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman on Oct. 30, 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Congo), no one expected him to win. The brash boxer from Louisville, Kentucky, was 32 years old and suspected of being on the decline. He was coming off a hard fought decision win over Joe Frazier, and had barely got past Kenny Norton in a fight many thought he deserved to lose. Ali had lost much of his famous foot speed, didn’t carry huge power, and had told the press he would be retiring after the fight.

In George Foreman, Ali was facing one of the most intimidating champions the sport had ever seen. Foreman was 25, unbeaten, and had knocked out 37 of 40 opponents — most of whom were rendered unconscious inside the first two rounds. Foreman was inhumanly strong and such an awesome puncher that no one wanted to hold the heavy bag for him, let alone face him in a ring. The Texas born fighter was a wrecking machine coming off ruthless demolitions of Frazier and Norton who both were pulverized in two short rounds. Frazier was hit so hard by one punch that his feet literally left the floor. “The word ‘murderous’ doesn’t quite apply,” journalist Norman Mailer said of Foreman’s prowess. “He was awesome.”

Event organizers reportedly feared for Ali’s life and had secretly organized a helicopter to take him to the hospital if (and when) he got knocked out. But Ali was talking a good game, telling anyone who would listen that he was going to take Foreman out inside of 10 rounds. “Im gonna dance!” Ali told the media. “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark!”. He told the media that Foreman was a slow, pondering “mummy” who couldn’t punch as hard as the critics made out. “The world has been deceived,” Ali told the BBC. “He’s slow, he has no skill, no footwork, he’s awkward”.

Responding to a story that Ali was going to tell Foreman something in the ring before the fight to deflate him, Foreman was typically brusque:

“I never get a chance to talk much. By the time you get to know a man, it's all over.”

The Fight

Ali vs Foreman turned out to be one of the greatest fights in boxing history. Ali knocked Foreman out in eight rounds, showing the world he was not only the best heavyweight on the planet, but arguable the best heavyweight of all time.

Ali put on a masterclass of bravery and intelligence, confronting Foreman early on with surprising aggression and speed, then dragging the bigger man into trench warfare by adopting a “rope-a-dope” strategy. Foreman had expected Ali to dance, to move around the ring and used his jab. He had spent months training to cut the ring off and pin Ali against the ropes where his strength punching power would obliterate his opponent, as it had his other victims.

But instead of moving, Ali went straight to Foreman in the middle of the ring and smacked him with spiteful lead right hands. When Foreman bulled in, Ali allowed him to push him back to the ropes where he encouraged Foreman to wail on him. The challenger blocked, parried, and took the champion’s relentless assault, whispering insults into his ear and urging him to hit harder. “Is that all you got George?” Ali would say. “You ain’t nothing sucka”. Sporadically, Ali returned fire when Foreman took breaks beating on him, but opted mostly to tie him up and turn it into a grueling wrestling match.

After eight rounds of this, Foreman had almost completely punched himself out. Not only was Ali far, far more resilient than Foreman had anticipated, he simply couldn’t catch Ali cleanly either. With 21 seconds remaining of the round, Ali caught Foreman with a sharp right hand as he tried to push Ali back to the ropes. It stunned the champion, and Ali sensed Foreman’s resistance was gone. As Foreman bulled in again, Ali pivoted off the ropes and unloaded a series of sharp punches that sent the younger, exhausted man spiraling the canvas. It was over, and Ali was champion again.

Ukraine And The Art of War

The Russian army is currently being sucked into a war with Ukraine that it cannot win. Putin, confident that his army would crush Ukrainian forces and take Kiev within a week, is now facing devastating defeat that almost no one could have predicted. Contrary to Russian assessments, Ukrainians was more than up for the fight. They countered Russian aggression with surprising violence, then set about defending key cities with incredible bravery and adaptability. As former Counselor of the Department of State Eliot A. Cohen writes in a stunning essay for The Atlantic:

The evidence that Ukraine is winning this war is abundant, if one only looks closely at the available data. The absence of Russian progress on the front lines is just half the picture, obscured though it is by maps showing big red blobs, which reflect not what the Russians control but the areas through which they have driven. The failure of almost all of Russia’s airborne assaults, its inability to destroy the Ukrainian air force and air-defense system, and the weeks-long paralysis of the 40-mile supply column north of Kyiv are suggestive. Russian losses are staggering—between 7,000 and 14,000 soldiers dead, depending on your source, which implies (using a low-end rule of thumb about the ratios of such things) a minimum of nearly 30,000 taken off the battlefield by wounds, capture, or disappearance. Such a total would represent at least 15 percent of the entire invading force, enough to render most units combat ineffective. And there is no reason to think that the rate of loss is abating—in fact, Western intelligence agencies are briefing unsustainable Russian casualty rates of a thousand a day.

Furthermore, Cohen argues, Russia’s tactical and logistical mistakes have wrecked any ambitions they once had of subjugating their neighbors:

Add to this the repeated tactical blundering visible on videos even to amateurs: vehicles bunched up on roads, no infantry covering the flanks, no closely coordinated artillery fire, no overhead support from helicopters, and panicky reactions to ambushes. The 1-to-1 ratio of vehicles destroyed to those captured or abandoned bespeaks an army that is unwilling to fight. Russia’s inability to concentrate its forces on one or two axes of attack, or to take a major city, is striking. So, too, are its massive problems in logistics and maintenance, carefully analyzed by technically qualified observers.

Just as Muhammed Ali picked holes in his overly confident, seemingly invincible foe, so too has the Ukrainian army exploited Russia’s shambolic attack. Foreman steamed into Ali believing he’d win in a couple of rounds, only to find himself deep in a battle he had not prepared for. The Russians also blundered into Ukraine believing they would be in charge after a few days only to find themselves engaged in deadly warfare and without critical supplies almost five weeks later.

As associate professor at the United States Military Academy Vikram Mittal writes, the Ukrainians thwarted Russia’s attack with a strategy designed to “limit the Russian offense while also conserving their own resources”. They knew they were outgunned and outmanned, but calculated that the main thrust of the Russian attack could be held off if they were smart, and then they could drag Russia into a fight on their terms. Writes Mittal:

With the initial invasion, the Ukrainians forces focused on ensuring that the Russians invasion force could not achieve the momentum necessary to sweep through the country. They did this by targeting the lead elements of the Russian assault while also destroying bridges and other infrastructure. Additionally, Ukrainian anti-tank units used javelins and other anti-tank weapons to destroy tanks, further disrupting the assault. By disallowing the Russians from establishing momentum, the Ukrainians were able to establish a strong defensive posture that held the Russians in check.

Just as Ali knew he would be outgunned by Foreman early on, he too had to make sure the bigger man’s weapons were rendered ineffective so he could take him out later on. The combination of smart aggression and a fluid defense meant Foreman was lulled into a fight on Ali’s terms.

This is how battles against bigger, more dangerous foes can be won. You take their complacency and use it to pull them into a conflict they were not anticipating. You take away their key weapons and force them to fight on terrain where you have an advantage. You conserve your strength and use it when opportunities arise, and you make sure they expend as much energy as possible while staying safe.

The Ukrainian military strategy has been so successful that the Russians are now pulling troops away from Kiev and other major cities. The Kremlin is drastically limiting its ambitions in Ukraine with the Russian defense ministry stating it is only now focusing on the Donbas region. As senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute Jack Watling argues, “This climbdown is undoubtedly laying the groundwork for selling the operation as a success to the Russian public despite an abysmal military combat performance”.

What this really means is Russia has taken a severe beating and is looking for a way out. As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “there is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent”. In a boxing match, this can be a painful and humiliating experience. In a war, it can be catastrophic, as Vladimir Putin and the Russian army are now finding out.

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