Comeback George Foreman vs. Current Vitali

[nomadman]

Every fighter, even the best defensive fighters, get hit. Having a reach advantage or being the better outside fighter doesn't mean you're going the pitch a shutout on the compubox stats. The next shutout I see will be the first. And btw, with elite fighters the reach is a pretty damn good indicator of whether they're a good outside fighter or not.

Who said he's going to pitch a shutout? I said Vitali wouldn't have too many problems landing hard shots of his own on Foreman. That's based on observing both fighters in the ring, and not on any physical stats. Foreman's best punch on the outside would be his jab; it was a shot which he consistently landed on everyone he fought. As for his power punches, his main successes came when he got on the inside of fighters or trapped them against the ropes. On the outside he was far too slow and lethargic to catch even guys like Morrison and Briggs solidly, as evidenced by the fact that they weren't KTFO.

Vitali is no defensive wizard nor is he a speed merchant. The man is NOT hard to hit, not at all. Even a well past-it out-of-shape Lewis was able to tag Vitali with ease. Vitali's stock in trade is his chin and toughness: He can shake off most opponents punches or walk through them. I doubt he'd be able to do that against a Foreman of circa 1992. He may out work George.....hell, he probably WOULD outwork George, but he'd still get tagged and tagged hard. And from the outside too.

If you need reminding we're talking about comeback George Foreman here, not exactly a fresh trim specimen in the prime of his life. Vitali's slowness won't be a factor here, or not as big a factor as it would in another style matchup with a speedier foe. And whilst his hands are slow, his reaction speed and punch anticipation, coupled with his height make him very difficult to hit cleanly.

Much is made of Vitali's inhuman capacity for absorbing punishment, but a good bulk of this belief stems from the Lennox fight, and to a lesser extent the Sanders fight. Yet count the number of heavy shots he takes from his other opponents and tell me if you see anything near as brutal as what he took in those two fights. If Vitali were easy to hit he would have been stopped or at least dropped before now, I don't care how good his chin is perceived as being.

And btw, when did George EVER "get in the box" except when he had an opponent trapped on the ropes? In the middle of the ring George always kept his opponents on the end of his punches (where the maximum power is). That's why in practically every fight you'd see him shoving his opponents back: Because he wanted them out on the end of his punches.

Comeback George had a pretty simple gameplan in most of his fights. Stalk his opponents back to the ropes and unload where they couldn't get out of the way. He was certainly not trying to outbox them in the centre of the ring. He did like to maintain distance there, via the pushing, mainly because it gave him the space to use his jab, and thence drive them back to the ropes, but it was not a place he liked to be for any long portion of the fight.

[IMDAZED]

Vitali's face wouldn't last twelve rounds against Foreman.

[nomadman]

Vitali's face wouldn't last twelve rounds against Foreman.

Cuts are a possibility, especially considering the heaviness and consistency of Foreman's jab, but it was a right which opened the cut in the Lennox fight, and a really heavy right that Lennox put who whole weight into. Bruising and swelling would be more of a concern IMO.

[GoogleMe]

Do people forget, how freaking strong Vitali is? He's maybe on of the harder hitting HW of all time?

[nomadman]

Do people forget, how freaking strong Vitali is? He's maybe on of the harder hitting HW of all time?

Based on what? That's a ludicrous assumption to make.

[JAB5239]

Do people forget, how freaking strong Vitali is? He's maybe on of the harder hitting HW of all time?

He might be somewhere in the top 20, probably better, but he doesn't have the same kind of explosive pop as the true punchers of the division. He wears you down first where as they best punchers could take you out with a single punch.

[IMDAZED]

Cuts are a possibility, especially considering the heaviness and consistency of Foreman's jab, but it was a right which opened the cut in the Lennox fight, and a really heavy right that Lennox put who whole weight into. Bruising and swelling would be more of a concern IMO.

Yeah, Foreman had a pretty great right hand.

[nomadman]

Yeah, Foreman had a pretty great right hand.

He does. Will he be able to land it though?

[IMDAZED]

He does. Will he be able to land it though?

Why not? Vitali's defense is average at best and generally below that.

[New England]

vitali on pts. i think he'd be active enough to win score more pts and long and strong enough to stay away from anything big


in their primes i'd go with foreman on pts
or maybe he cuts vitali up and stops him that way

he's got rocks in his jaw to say the least, and in his prime he was a very hard puncher
not as hard as foreman
but he had a big right hand