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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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