Letters to the Editor
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The Rope-a-Dope, Rudy & Ali
Ali used the rope-a-dope strategy against the younger and ferociously powerful George Foreman in a championship fight 2 or 3 decades ago.
Ali laid on the ropes, his arms and boxing gloves covering his face, and allowed Foreman to pummel away at his body for 2 1/2 minutes of the 3 minute rounds. In the last thirty seconds of the round, Ali turned aggressor and landed significant blows to his arm weary opponent until in round eight, with less than thirty seconds remaining (if memory serves me), the older, shrewder Ali landed a viscious right cross to the chin of the exhausted Foreman and knocked him out. (Foreman later called himself the "dope" in the rope-a-dope strategy of Ali.)
The questions with Rudy's use of this strategy are (1) has he thrown any punches at all in the earlier rounds to show the judges (voters) that he's still in the fight and (2) does he have a knock-out punch left in him to win Florida.
So far, he has not shown in any way that he has the Greatness and the mental and physical firepower of the Champion Ali.
His only hope, it seems, is that his other two opponents knock each other out.
As a native New Yorker, I apologize for writing this, Mr. G..