 Ali was preparing to go back in the ring after being away from boxing for a number of years. Cassell asked Muhammad, are you the same person as you were before? Ali said, I certainly hope not. Anyone who is the same person 20 years later than they were 20 years earlier is a pitiful person. Ali was not the same fighter. He had changed his skills. His thinking had changed. He created a program called Rope-A-Dote. He leaned on the ropes until George Foreman wore himself out. Then Ali attacked.