Probably the best punch of the whole fight was never landed. Muhammad Ali, as I was going down - stumbling and trying to hold myself - he saw me stumbling. Ordinarily, you finish your fighter off. I would have. He got ready to throw the right hand and he didn't do it. That's what made him, in my mind, the greatest fighter I ever fought.
I watched the footage of this fight, and you can see what Foreman is talking about.
A famous quote states that "Restraint is the better part of valor." When you know you have the power to destroy another person in word or deed and choose not to, it can be more admirable than many may ever recognize... for true discretion occurs when it is unnoticeable to those who are watching. Which makes the practice of secrecy about the restraint that much more of a statement.
However, there are times when the punch should land. In the Ali vs Foreman fight, several swings occurred before the one that didn't. In our realm of relationships, we have to remember that we are in other people's lives for a reason, too. If we neglect to press in and help them grow (which is a different goal than a prize fight, of course), we can do them a disservice as well.
So wherever you find yourself these days with plenty of "ammunition" to take out another, you may want to ask yourself if this is the time to make an aggressive or a passive move.
Because both are needed, and I'm guessing most of us tend to be imbalanced in this area, one way or the other.
