Proverbs 21:22
A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and casts down the strength of its confidence!
Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship on October 30, 1974 in Zaire, Africa in one of the most celebrated and epic boxing matches of all time.
George Foreman was a monster of a fighter and the favorite to win. George was bigger, younger, stronger, and had already won thirty-seven of his forty matches, all ending in knockouts; some only lasting a meager six minutes. Two of his victims were Frazier and Norton, fighters who had already formerly defeated Ali. It seemed as though the outcome was already decided before the match was ever fought.
Man…how many times have I felt this same way? People had already predetermined my defeat before I ever entered the battle! This is a perfect analogy of the way that the difficulties and battles of life can oftentimes present themselves to us. They make us to feel that we are outnumbered, outmatched, and simply under equipped to defeat an opponent that has already destroyed everyone else that stood in his path. Why should we be any different? What is in us that could possibly change such an inevitable outcome – an opponent that others much better than ourselves were not able to overcome!
As the fight began, Foreman relentlessly pounded upon Ali’s body for seven rounds with devastating blow after blow. Dundee, Ali’s trainer, pleaded with Ali to move or at least attempt to avoid these devastating hits, but it was all to no avail. Ali had a plan and he was sticking with it.
Finally, George being exhausted - stood in unbelief as Ali leaned over and whispered in his ear… “Is that all you got!!” All George could think was that he had given this guy a beating of a lifetime and he still refused to fall! His confidence began to wane, as well as his strength, and the momentum in the fight suddenly began to shift!”
Going into round eight as the two came to center ring, Ali said to George, “Now it’s my turn!” He met Foreman with two straight right hands and a flurry of shots that finally sent the Mighty Foreman tumbling to the ground! The key to Ali’s historic win was not in his gloves, but in his wisdom and sheer determination. He had brought down a seemingly unbeatable opponent simply by destroying his confidence.
All of us have an enemy that we are facing in life. Winning is simply not quitting! We may get knocked down, but we don’t have to be knocked out. We can get up, and get up, and get up, and get up, and keep getting up, until our opponent’s confidence is cast down, and his strength and will to fight has been destroyed. When we are feeling at our lowest point, and it seems as if the battle is all but lost, we too must lean over into the ear of our enemy and say, “Is that all you got!”
Romans 8:31 “…if God be for us, then who can be against us?”