George Foreman Admits He Refused Muhammad Ali’s One Condition For Rematch: “We Got So Close”

George Foreman has explained the reason why Muhammad Ali didn’t want to face him in a rematch.

Foreman and Ali famously met in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Zaire in 1974, where Ali upset the odds to beat previously undefeated ‘Big George’ by eighth round knockout to win the undisputed heavyweight title.

A second meeting between the two fighters never took place, and Foreman has now revealed what he believes to be the rematch why it didn’t happen.

Speaking in an interview uploaded to YouTube, Foreman claimed that Ali said he would only face him if he worked with his previous trainer and manager Dick Sadler again, something that ‘Big George’ says Ali knew he was not prepared to do.

“After that boxing match in Zaire, Muhammad never wanted to fight me.

He called me once and we talked on the phone about doing a match. I’ll do the match but you’ve got to hire Dick Sadler. I said I’ll never work with Sadler again.

[Ali said to Foreman] ‘That’s your problem you never work with anybody that’s why you’ll never fight for the title’ and hung up on me. We got that close to a boxing match but it was about taking Dick Sadler back. Once is enough.

Now all the various boxing committees are saying [to Ali] ‘if you don’t fight Foreman he’s a top contender.’ The fight with George and Jimmy Young will be an elimination and the winner can be champion. That’s how close I was to making that fight with Muhammad Ali.

He didn’t want to fight me. He brought up Dick so he had a good reason not to fight me.”

Foreman fought Jimmy Young in 1997, suffering a unanimous decision defeat, leading to a ten-year retirement and meaning he missed out on a rematch with Ali.

While ‘Big George’ was keen on a rematch with Ali, there is one heavyweight who he admits he doesn’t think he would have ever been able to beat.