George Foreman vs. Lennox Lewis

[Stiv Rex]

He was a hard hitter and a master at cutting off the ring. Whats Lennox going to do when hes on these ropes? hes going to get carried off on a stretcher thats what hes going to do.

if he was a master why was frazier able to cut off the ring (a little) against ali in their first fight but foreman wasnt? joe frazier was smaller and about the same foot speed but he could cut off ali and gigantic "master" foreman couldnt? he couldnt cut off the ring against jimmy young either.

lewis got pushed around by holyfield because that was holyfields style in that fight, plus he was wary of the worlds best headbutter, so he gave steps to make the space he needed for his right, and look at the result, too. if it werent for eugenia williams smoking crack before the fight and larry o'conell taking $$ for a draw then he would have won an easy decision. it was pretty obvious in the rematch.
lewis could handle foremans sloppy flailing, and he was no wimp anyway. you talk about foreman like he was a clydesdale. lennox was plenty strong enough to push right back.

[Heckler]

lol you guys buy into the 'any skilled boxer can beat Foreman' theory, which was developed after Ali beat him. Ali is unique, you must realise this. No way, george takes 3 steps to every other fighters 1 - in the words of muhammad ali. The only way to beat Foreman is to laterally move, fluidly and have the ability to tie george up and absorb huge punishment. Sitting on the ropes only works with Ali, without a doubt. Lennox didn't have the footwork nor the functional strength required to keep the fight at center ring, he would be muscled on to the ropes by Foreman and knocked out. He has a glass jaw, thus he doesn't stand a chance. Many think Foreman was nothing but a powerful slugger, and they are right. But the extent of his power, strength, and general brutality in the ring is SO large that it completely offsets his lack of skill and technique. Not only do i think no swarmer could take a 73 Foreman, i dont think any fighter other then Ali and POSSIBLY holmes could take Foreman out during that time.

[unstoppable sam]

id have to agree with the post that whoever hit first would win.. i think alot of u are under estimating lewis

[Heckler]

Not underestimating Lewis at all. Lewis is a good fighter. But he doesn't have the ability to absorb punishment that is required to take on Foreman. Many will pick Lennox on the basis that he is a modern fighter and Foreman for the most part was not - a logic that is ridiculous because any boxing enthusiast will know that the present is a slump in boxing.

[Yogi]

i think alot of u are under estimating lewis

Whether the majority would favour Lewis over Foreman in the future or not, the trend has been to underrate a fighter whose still very fresh in our memory. As an example, in the mid/late 70's the editors of Ring Magazine were asked to complete a compilation of who they thought were the greatest Heavyweights of all-time and this is what they came up with as a final tally;

1. Joe Louis
2. Jack Dempsey
3. James Jeffries
4. Jack Johnson
5. Rocky Marciano
6. Gene Tunney
7. Bob Fitzsimmons
8. James Corbett
9. Muhammad Ali

That poll was taken when the vast majority of Ali's work was behind him, yet he could do no better than 9th that time around. But about ten years later when Ring Magazine again asked their editors to compile their lists...Ali was sitting at the very top of the rankings.

[Heckler]

if he was a master why was frazier able to cut off the ring (a little) against ali in their first fight but foreman wasnt? joe frazier was smaller and about the same foot speed but he could cut off ali and gigantic "master" foreman couldnt? he couldnt cut off the ring against jimmy young either.

lewis got pushed around by holyfield because that was holyfields style in that fight, plus he was wary of the worlds best headbutter, so he gave steps to make the space he needed for his right, and look at the result, too. if it werent for eugenia williams smoking crack before the fight and larry o'conell taking $$ for a draw then he would have won an easy decision. it was pretty obvious in the rematch.
lewis could handle foremans sloppy flailing, and he was no wimp anyway. you talk about foreman like he was a clydesdale. lennox was plenty strong enough to push right back.

Rofl Lewis does not have much functional strength for his size at all. Its widely known Foreman and Jeffries are the strongest men to step between those ropes. Lennox would get manhandled like a small child. So yeah Foreman was freakishly strong and any sportswriter/historian that witnessed the man will tell you this. Foreman was VERY good at cutting off the ring and he DID cut the ring off against Ali? so wtf are you on about?

Why wasn't he cutting off the ring against Young well? maybe because he was a walking basketcase at the time? Because he didn't want to apply too much pressure, do too much work? Psychologically ****ed from the rumble in the jungle? he wasn't half the fighter after 74.

"Those who believe that any “clever boxer” type could beat George often give the Jimmy Young fight as an example. Foreman showed up for this fight in San Juan the day before the fight and didn’t give himself time to get acclimated to the heat. He paced himself, fighting in his newfound measured style and did not throw a significant punch for the first 5 rounds. This was all wrong for him. The Foreman of Zaire would have tracked down Young, forced him to the ropes, went to the body with power and belted him out inside of a few short rounds. The 1973-74 Foreman, the one who cut the ring and really went after his man was the best Foreman. The George who lost to Young never really went after him. The Foreman who fought at a measured pace just was not the real Foreman." - Monte Cox

You come across as nothing more then an enthusiast of contemporary boxing who has failed to learn enough about the boxers of previous generations. A jab was never able to neutralise Foreman. Ali stuck a number of jabs and right crosses at Foreman whom essentially shook them off and bustled Ali against the ropes.I can guarantee Ali has more functional strength the Lennox ever did being one of the only fighters that was able to move Foreman around the ring to some extent and tie up Sonny Liston. Norton also used the jab to little effect. Holyfield could barely keep grandaddy Foreman off him, although he at one stage hit Foreman with 25 unanswered shots. Ali never beat Foreman with his skill. It was his toughness, tremendous ability to absorb punishment, and will to win.

"Not too many fighters who ever lived, and possibly only Muhammad Ali, could defeat the George Foreman of that fight. Ali could box, move, was fast on his feet, had exceptional head movement and anticipation but George cut the ring on him very well in Zaire. Ali did not outbox Foreman. He outsmarted him yes, but mostly he toughed it out where most heavyweights would have wilted. Few men besides Ali could take the shots that he did. Few who slugged it out with a prime Foreman would have hopes to survive. After losing to Ali, George, who had thought himself unbeatable, began to doubt himself and changed his style." - MONTE COX

I dont think Lennox has the killer instinct to do aswell as Lyle, and that wasn't the best Foreman at all. You are correct in saying he has the smarts, but incorrect in implying that mere smarts and boxing ability will be enough to beat Foreman. One needs to be able to absorb tremendous punishment - Lennox couldn't.

"Lennox Lewis, who was twice knocked out in early rounds by lesser fighters, would fall in two rounds to Big George. Few fighters of history could make the requirement against the most powerful of the big men. George Foreman at his awesome best is the king of the super-heavyweights." - Monte Cox

[The Noose]

Another thing i noticed about Foreman wen i watched him recently. His punches, although very wild and amaturish at times, he was unorthadox, and his punches were often arm punches. But very powerful.

The shots that knocked out Norton and Frazier were arm swings, but not telegraphed at all.

Lennox would have to catch him with one hell of a shot to keep him off. And i dont think Lewis's defence was great. Did McCall or Rahman really punch that hard?

[BKM-]

Did McCall or Rahman really punch that hard?

Yes. Rahman's punch was harder. But people seem to forget why Lewis was totally ****ed up by that. He bounced his head on the floor like a football. You can imagine how that would feel.

[K-DOGG]

Intriguing match up; but I have to go with the cruder fighter, Big George, in this case. Why?

Well, Lewis proved he could be stopped with one punch...McCall and Rahman, which means his chin was average at best.

Foreman, on the other hand, was tagged and dropped by Ron Lyle and got up to continue fighting and eventually stopped his foe. True Ali stopped George in 8 and the feather-fisted Young dropped him in the 12th; but the key to those knock-downs was exhaustion and possible heat stroke in the case of Young. Ali took George's best as Foreman refused to pace himself and eventually ran out of gas, at which point Ali capitalized.

Lewis was just stopped. Now, true, Lewis did slug it out with Mecer and lasted the distance; but I don't think Merciless Ray hit quite as hard as Foreman and I don't think he was as tenacious and intent on destroying his opponenets as a young Formena was....despite his nickname.

[butterfly1964]

Intriguing match up; but I have to go with the cruder fighter, Big George, in this case. Why?

Well, Lewis proved he could be stopped with one punch...McCall and Rahman, which means his chin was average at best.

Foreman, on the other hand, was tagged and dropped by Ron Lyle and got up to continue fighting and eventually stopped his foe. True Ali stopped George in 8 and the feather-fisted Young dropped him in the 12th; but the key to those knock-downs was exhaustion and possible heat stroke in the case of Young. Ali took George's best as Foreman refused to pace himself and eventually ran out of gas, at which point Ali capitalized.

Lewis was just stopped. Now, true, Lewis did slug it out with Mecer and lasted the distance; but I don't think Merciless Ray hit quite as hard as Foreman and I don't think he was as tenacious and intent on destroying his opponenets as a young Formena was....despite his nickname.

nice post. good karma and 50,000 points for you!