Who could beat a prime George Foreman?

[brownpimp88]

Kid would favour dempsey to beat foreman, nuff said, lol.

[K-DOGG]

Yeah that's the real deal Dogg.

Baer was pretty much forced into the ring that night by Dempsey and was terrified of facing Louis. As Baer would later say:

"I define fear as standing across the ring from Joe Louis and knowing he wants to go home early."

If you watch a tape of the fight you will see Baer looks quite tentative (I'll stop short of saying scared) although he does connect and shake Louis up at one point. Unfortunately for Baer it was at the end of the round and Baer returned to his tentative ways the next round. So much for Baer getting braver after hurting his opponent.

Louis at the time was 21 years of age and had 24-0 record. Baer at the time was a veteran of 48 fights, had never been floored or stopped and was an ex-champion. While Louis was becoming known as a 'dark destroyer' his reputation as a fighter was nowhere near it would become. Why Baer was that afraid of Louis is puzzling, but in my mind offers up some insight into Baer's mindset and courage and the self doubt that Baer could bring into the ring against the imposing Foreman or Sonny Liston for that matter.

Baer also took a bit of a ****-kicking in the press at the time for staying down when he clearly could have gotten up. Baer freely admitted he could have gotten up but told the press something to the effect that if the fans wanted to see him killed they would have to pay more than $50 for a ringside seat.

I hear alot of reference to Foreman's Ron Lyle fight in these Foreman-Baer fantasy threads. Lyle in his fights with Shavers and Foreman showed greater heart and courage than Baer ever did in his career. Climbing off the deck to to KO Shavers and floor Foreman, two of the hardest hitting heavyweights of all time speaks volumes of Lyle's determination.

I never saw that in Baer.

That's incredibly insightful, SABBATH. I may have to re-think my analysis of Baer-Foreman. The sport, being 90% mental, would definitely favour the man who has the strongest will and mental faculties. If you can't control your fear....that's a major black mark.

[joelouisbarrow]

Kid would favour dempsey to beat foreman, nuff said, lol.

and you would favour lennox lewis to beat joe louis..nuff said

[brownpimp88]

and you would favour lennox lewis to beat joe louis..nuff said

Yes i would, lennox would throw straight punches to his face, use his reach and blast him. When did joe louis fight a guy with the skill of lennox, never.

[joelouisbarrow]

Yes i would, lennox would throw straight punches to his face, use his reach and blast him. When did joe louis fight a guy with the skill of lennox, never.

im not even getting into this...i`ll put my daughter on..shes about the same age as you

[hemichromis]

im not even getting into this...i`ll put my daughter on..shes about the same age as you

naa i ahev to agree with brown pimp here lewis could give louis alot of trouble with his stregnth power and skills. At his best lewis stood a fare chance against any heavyweight in hostory, at his worst journeyman beat him!

[brownpimp88]

naa i ahev to agree with brown pimp here lewis could give louis alot of trouble with his stregnth power and skills. At his best lewis stood a fare chance against any heavyweight in hostory, at his worst journeyman beat him!

the holyfield that lewis fought is still better than walcott and schmeling, those are joe's big wins. Vitali is better than jersey joe walcott too. Lennox Lewis beat better quality competition if you actually look into it with proper research. Those guys like braddock, carnera, sharkey, they arent good.

[K-DOGG]

the holyfield that lewis fought is still better than walcott and schmeling, those are joe's big wins. Vitali is better than jersey joe walcott too. Lennox Lewis beat better quality competition if you actually look into it with proper research. Those guys like braddock, carnera, sharkey, they arent good.

No....he wasn't.

[joelouisbarrow]

the holyfield that lewis fought is still better than walcott and schmeling, those are joe's big wins. Vitali is better than jersey joe walcott too. Lennox Lewis beat better quality competition if you actually look into it with proper research. Those guys like braddock, carnera, sharkey, they arent good.

what authority do you have to say the likes of braddock, sharkey etc were`nt good ?....experts in this game ( who`ve forgotten more than you`ll ever know ) rate the brown bomber as one of the greatest ever if not THE greatest..yet you ridicule his opposition....he beat huge men like primo...men who out-weighed him by 60 pounds ( galento )....he fought some great great fighters ( buddy & max baer, schmeling, tommy farr, simon , godoy ,pastor etc ) and was champ for 12 years

[brownpimp88]

what authority do you have to say the likes of braddock, sharkey etc were`nt good ?....experts in this game ( who`ve forgotten more than you`ll ever know ) rate the brown bomber as one of the greatest ever if not THE greatest..yet you ridicule his opposition....he beat huge men like primo...men who out-weighed him by 60 pounds ( galento )....he fought some great great fighters ( buddy & max baer, schmeling, tommy farr, simon , godoy ,pastor etc ) and was champ for 12 years

braddock, carnera and shakrey are the worst heavyweights ever. Vitali klitckho is better than walcott, jersey joe really wasnt that good. Yet joe louis needed a gift decision to beat him. The fact that you just mentioned those guys as great fighters just shows how clueless you really are. Joe Louis is always dubbed as fighting bums.