George Foreman - a freak of nature?

[Tom Cruise]

He was eating Frazier's hooks, he couldn't do anything against Ali's simple Arthur Abraham style, he generally took a lot of punishment and it was his physical attributes that made him great. The later returned Foreman actually still managed to survive on physical attributes alone, combined with heart.

Because no one ever got hit by Joe f#ckin Fraziers hooks and Ali had a **** defence

Boxingxpert has to be one of the most ironic usernames in NSB history

[kafkod]

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but posts like this infuriate me. George Foreman had slow feet yes, and in the heat of the moment against Ali, he did swing wild but that's more a mental thing than a technical, Ali was in his ear all through the fight.

In the age of Mayweather and this stupid TMT **** we have this perception of "slick" boxers and that if you don't have fast hands or feet or be perceived to be defensively gifted then you are not technical. Guys like Adrien Broner and Sergio Martinez were perceived as "Slick" so they have to be technically gifted. I'm the biggest Sergio fan, not so much AB, but both guys have glaring weaknesses technically speaking.

Foreman was a Sonny Liston protege, and overseen by Archie Moore, Sandy and Dick Saddler. He had tremendous physical gifts, so they guided him as his body dictated, to best utilize those gifts.

You say he had slow feet, (Like people say about JC Chavez or Golovkin) but that's how he was trained, he wasted no energy in cutting off the Ring against mobile boxers. Foreman was one of the best in history that regard, proving it against Ali, who, although he beat him, had to go to the ropes as foreman constantly cut him off, then again against Michael Moorer. So technically his footwork was perfect!

A big criticism Ali threw at Foreman was the way he carried his hands in the fight, calling him "The Mummy", again technically speaking there was nothing wrong with this, it was a genius tactic Sandy Saddler also used. It served two purposes, firstly, it's an excellent way of "hand fighting", keeping it out like that serves to parry and evade Jabs and straight hands as the opponent has to get thru it, and it's easy to hook and uppercut off of, as Joe Frazier found out.
By keeping his hands out like that it also served help him cut off the ring, at 6'4 81" reach Foreman was as his nickname suggested "Big" by sticking his hands like that, it made it hard for opponents to judge distance and made him a bigger object in the ring. Once again, technically nothing wrong with it.

And lastly, without getting into too much detail as my post is already longer than I planned, foreman had some of the Heavyweight divisions most diverse and best Jabs, learning from his mentor Sonny Liston.

You mentioned about swinging wild, well other than the Ali and Ron Lyle fight, he did not swing wild. Again we are talking about a 25 year old Foreman who was broken mentally by Ali in that fight and had zero confidence going into the Lyle fight.

To sum up,
- Fast hands and feet does not = Technical ability, Physical Strength does not = No Technical ability.
- George Foreman had great Footwork, Defense, Ring IQ, Jab, Uppercut. So yes he had great technique

foreman was very skilled. people get thrown off by the open glove, crab defense, wide punch stuff, but the guy did have craft. great jab. great body puncher. could generate power from basically any distance and angle. put shots together. won a gold medal in the olympics ffs.

you really saw what craft he had when he came back and had success when all of his physical attributes [other than his power, whcih was diminished but still a big factor,] had diminished. in his comeback he was extremely patient. one of the most relaxed fighters you'll ever see. that is a skill! and an important one! it helps you last, gives you time to study your opponent, takes some fo the steam off of shots you can't see, etc!


in short, you DKSAB!

I've watched of lot of Foreman's fights and I agree with what these guys are saying. Big George wasn't fast on his feet, to put it tactfully, and he didn't have fast hands either. But he could judge range and distance well and he was great at cutting the ring. For a man as ponderous as Foreman to cut the ring as well as he did proves that he was an intelligent, thinking fighter. He was also very accurate with his punches, especially the jab.

Ali suckered Foreman in their fight. Foreman expected Ali to move and be evasive, and when Ali went to the ropes and stayed there, taunting Foreman and inviting him to go for a KO, Big George forgot about pacing himself and went for it with everything he had. Ali's almost inhuman capacity to absorb punishment, plus the terrible heat and humidity, all combined and contributed to George punching himself out.

There was a reason why Ali didn't give Foreman a rematch. He knew George wouldn't have fallen for the rope-a-dope trick again.

[Tom Cruise]

People might not agree with me, but i really dont think Ali wanted to be on the ropes as much as he was in his fight with George.

In the ealy rounds it looked to me like Ali wanted to move and box, but Foremans pressure, and Ali's diminished athleticism, was consistently trapping him on the ropes.

Willing to be proved wrong though if there is stuff which shows that Ali was training to fight that way

[HughJass]

[HughJass]

[incredible_22]

I find it hilarious that you called yourself the boxing expert, you don't know shit.

I was thinking the same lol

[incredible_22]

I've watched of lot of Foreman's fights and I agree with what these guys are saying. Big George wasn't fast on his feet, to put it tactfully, and he didn't have fast hands either. But he could judge range and distance well and he was great at cutting the ring. For a man as ponderous as Foreman to cut the ring as well as he did proves that he was an intelligent, thinking fighter. He was also very accurate with his punches, especially the jab.

Ali suckered Foreman in their fight. Foreman expected Ali to move and be evasive, and when Ali went to the ropes and stayed there, taunting Foreman and inviting him to go for a KO, Big George forgot about pacing himself and went for it with everything he had. Ali's almost inhuman capacity to absorb punishment, plus the terrible heat and humidity, all combined and contributed to George punching himself out.

There was a reason why Ali didn't give Foreman a rematch. He knew George wouldn't have fallen for the rope-a-dope trick again.

Ali would typically try and win the fight before it starts. The immediate boxer i think of that does this too is Hopkins, who is a student of the game.

[Russian Crushin]

There's a difference between skill and technicality. Foreman was very skilled, you can tell by the fights he won.

[SugarRayCurtain]

People might not agree with me, but i really dont think Ali wanted to be on the ropes as much as he was in his fight with George.

In the ealy rounds it looked to me like Ali wanted to move and box, but Foremans pressure, and Ali's diminished athleticism, was consistently trapping him on the ropes.

Willing to be proved wrong though if there is stuff which shows that Ali was training to fight that way

Ali admitted that he wanted to box but George was getting to him and he got tired moving, so he stayed on the ropes.

[firstborn]

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but posts like this infuriate me. George Foreman had slow feet yes, and in the heat of the moment against Ali, he did swing wild but that's more a mental thing than a technical, Ali was in his ear all through the fight.

In the age of Mayweather and this stupid TMT **** we have this perception of "slick" boxers and that if you don't have fast hands or feet or be perceived to be defensively gifted then you are not technical. Guys like Adrien Broner and Sergio Martinez were perceived as "Slick" so they have to be technically gifted. I'm the biggest Sergio fan, not so much AB, but both guys have glaring weaknesses technically speaking.

Foreman was a Sonny Liston protege, and overseen by Archie Moore, Sandy and Dick Saddler. He had tremendous physical gifts, so they guided him as his body dictated, to best utilize those gifts.

You say he had slow feet, (Like people say about JC Chavez or Golovkin) but that's how he was trained, he wasted no energy in cutting off the Ring against mobile boxers. Foreman was one of the best in history that regard, proving it against Ali, who, although he beat him, had to go to the ropes as foreman constantly cut him off, then again against Michael Moorer. So technically his footwork was perfect!

A big criticism Ali threw at Foreman was the way he carried his hands in the fight, calling him "The Mummy", again technically speaking there was nothing wrong with this, it was a genius tactic Sandy Saddler also used. It served two purposes, firstly, it's an excellent way of "hand fighting", keeping it out like that serves to parry and evade Jabs and straight hands as the opponent has to get thru it, and it's easy to hook and uppercut off of, as Joe Frazier found out.
By keeping his hands out like that it also served help him cut off the ring, at 6'4 81" reach Foreman was as his nickname suggested "Big" by sticking his hands like that, it made it hard for opponents to judge distance and made him a bigger object in the ring. Once again, technically nothing wrong with it.

And lastly, without getting into too much detail as my post is already longer than I planned, foreman had some of the Heavyweight divisions most diverse and best Jabs, learning from his mentor Sonny Liston.

You mentioned about swinging wild, well other than the Ali and Ron Lyle fight, he did not swing wild. Again we are talking about a 25 year old Foreman who was broken mentally by Ali in that fight and had zero confidence going into the Lyle fight.

To sum up,
- Fast hands and feet does not = Technical ability, Physical Strength does not = No Technical ability.
- George Foreman had great Footwork, Defense, Ring IQ, Jab, Uppercut. So yes he had great technique

Nice post, all good points.