Prime Tyson vs. Prime foreman

[druth]

Marciano is probably my favorite fighter of all time, however most people agree that Foreman had more brute power. The Rock obviouly hit like a truck, but his KO's tended to be more combination shots or KO's after accumulated punches.

Granted he did have his share of 1 punch knockouts, but out of most of the fights I've seen of him, it wasn't usually the case.

[KidBlackie]

[[[are you sure, what about marciano? a ko ratio does'nt mean everything i know, but to compare ko ratio's, rocky is still number 1 in history with 88%, foreman a close second at 87%.]]]]]]]]]]]

Foreman had about 90% in his first career. Vitali has a 92% KO ratio, Wlad 85%, Peter 87% as a point of current reference.

[OceaniaRed]

Yeah! That Wayne Rooney was something else!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for being sarcastic, this one was wide open! It's Kevin Rooney!!!

I happen to agree that Tyson was phenominal in his prime! Looking back on Foreman's fights like Ali, Lyle and Young, I cannot help but invision Tyson nailing Foreman at will. Foreman threw long looping punches (in a lot of cases) and was a big target! Obviously Foreman winning is not out of the question, but his beating Tyson as easily as some feel is rediculous to me. Tyson is the same size as Frazier (approx) but Tyson was much faster overall and more elusive than was Frazier. It would be a war!

Before last month, I'd have agreed with you. Then I saw an ESPN Classic airing titled "Foreman vs Paez". This episode happened to feature not only that fight but Foreman vs Roman and Foreman vs Norton as well. I realized watching that fight that Foreman had one weapon in his arsenal that modern fighters lack -- the modified push. Foreman fought with open glove a good percentage of the time, and used his arms for actually punching far less than people think. Revisit Round 1 of his first fight with Joe Frazier. I think you will be amazed at the number of times Foreman pushes, "cuff blocks", parries, or redirects Joe. At one point, he even uses a 2 handed push in combination! Seriously. Count the number of times Foreman uses his arms and hands for something other than punching. I think you'll be surprised. I count at least 20 times where this occurs. For that matter, not to be facetious, Foreman's actual punches are only variations on shoving. In a very real sense, he just pushes really fast when he's hitting a guy. This is why even blocked jabs from the guy physically halt or back opponents up. This is especially notable in the Paez fight where Paez is simply shoved onto the floor.
Twice.
The referee warns Foreman about pushing in this fight.
The referee in the Frazier fight also warns Foreman about pushing.
I can't recall if Foreman is warned in the Norton fight for pushing, but he does so. And Zack Clayton lets Foreman get away with this in his match against Ali, but fight announcer Bob Sheridan makes proper note of it, even to saying, "Foreman will push to set up his punches. When he pushes he tries to combo off of that. That's his secret."
I have to agree. And I have to say that this would be the deciding factor in a Mike Tyson George Foreman bout. If Tyson has hands of dynamite, Foreman is a bulldozer. If Tyson was pushed around by Holyfield, who was pushed around by the older version of Foreman, the 1973 version of Foreman would bend Tyson to his will in record time.
Tyson had explosive power, but not the kind of mass-moving strength of George Foreman. It is almost absurd, when you're looking for it, to note just how pervasively Foreman was able to use his strength in this way, even against opponents like Norton, who were as large, heavy, and well-built as he was. Just 4 minutes of this treatment was enough for the bulk of Foreman opponents until Ali. I don't see Tyson being able to escape getting discouraged and knocked out by prime Foreman's open glove treatment. Prime Foreman beats Tyson in 2.

[M26]

Mike Tyson would have a few glorious moments early on, because of his speed and explosiveness. But he would never stand a chance to beat Foreman. I say Foreman knocks out Tyson early.

George Foreman by ko4.

[AintGottaClue]

mike tryson was scared of the old fat george, he would be beat mentally agasint a younger one

[Slipx]

tysons people actually ducked the old foreman. rofl @ prime vs prime.foreman would have damaged tysons brain in prime vs prime.

a peekaboo puncher going against an open gloved style like foreman's is pure suicide.

[datneggajeep]

Tyson can kick anybody's ass, back when Foreman fought it was just a slugfest, during Tyson's time boxing became a science, Foreman would have no chance if he's getting knockout by Ali

[tri4ben2]

Anybody who thinks tyson would win has lost all touch with reality.

Some of Tyson's early fights have been on ESPN classic this week, and if Tyson was getting hit with those shots from a prime 225 pound foreman, it would have been all over.

Also, I do realize that by retroactively picking Spinks and Holmes to beat tyson, I am officially a hater.