George Foreman - a freak of nature?

[TheBoxingXpert]

Now, George Foreman is one of my favourite fighters. He's a respectable individual. He got manners, he got intelligence and he speaks from the hearth, being more humble than any other fighter I can think of right now. To top it off, he defeated several quality opponents in his career, including Frazier and Norton. I got nothing but respect for Foreman.

With that said, this should not be taken as an insult toward the legend. Merely asking for some thoughts. You see, George had very horrible boxing skills. He would just plod forward and swing the arms like a caveman. He had monstrous power and a monstrous chin, as well as a great fighter heart, but his skills are absolutely horrible. Look how he fought Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle. Many casuals even think the fight was a set-up.

Is George Foreman the best ever example of "fokk skills, it's all about the physical gifts"?

[HughJass]

Now, George Foreman is one of my favourite fighters. He's a respectable individual. He got manners, he got intelligence and he speaks from the hearth, being more humble than any other fighter I can think of right now. To top it off, he defeated several quality opponents in his career, including Frazier and Norton. I got nothing but respect for Foreman.

With that said, this should not be taken as an insult toward the legend. Merely asking for some thoughts. You see, George had very horrible boxing skills. He would just plod forward and swing the arms like a caveman. He had monstrous power and a monstrous chin, as well as a great fighter heart, but his skills are absolutely horrible. Look how he fought Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle. Many casuals even think the fight was a set-up.

Is George Foreman the best ever example of "fokk skills, it's all about the physical gifts"?

I believe he used to spar with Sonny Liston.Foreman was much bigger and more brutal.They thought Sonny was big and mean until BIG George came along,something that no one had ever seen before.I'd say yes to your question as he was just blowing everyone out the water,too big and too strong.

[_Maxi]

Now, George Foreman is one of my favourite fighters. He's a respectable individual. He got manners, he got intelligence and he speaks from the hearth, being more humble than any other fighter I can think of right now. To top it off, he defeated several quality opponents in his career, including Frazier and Norton. I got nothing but respect for Foreman.

With that said, this should not be taken as an insult toward the legend. Merely asking for some thoughts. You see, George had very horrible boxing skills. He would just plod forward and swing the arms like a caveman. He had monstrous power and a monstrous chin, as well as a great fighter heart, but his skills are absolutely horrible. Look how he fought Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle. Many casuals even think the fight was a set-up.

Is George Foreman the best ever example of "fokk skills, it's all about the physical gifts"?

Similar to Wilder. Wilder was being outboxed against Spislka until he got him with that right hand.

[toshmurph]

Now, George Foreman is one of my favourite fighters. He's a respectable individual. He got manners, he got intelligence and he speaks from the hearth, being more humble than any other fighter I can think of right now. To top it off, he defeated several quality opponents in his career, including Frazier and Norton. I got nothing but respect for Foreman.

With that said, this should not be taken as an insult toward the legend. Merely asking for some thoughts. You see, George had very horrible boxing skills. He would just plod forward and swing the arms like a caveman. He had monstrous power and a monstrous chin, as well as a great fighter heart, but his skills are absolutely horrible. Look how he fought Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle. Many casuals even think the fight was a set-up.

Is George Foreman the best ever example of "fokk skills, it's all about the physical gifts"?

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but posts like this infuriate me. George Foreman had slow feet yes, and in the heat of the moment against Ali, he did swing wild but that's more a mental thing than a technical, Ali was in his ear all through the fight.

In the age of Mayweather and this ****** TMT **** we have this perception of "slick" boxers and that if you don't have fast hands or feet or be perceived to be defensively gifted then you are not technical. Guys like Adrien Broner and Sergio Martinez were perceived as "Slick" so they have to be technically gifted. I'm the biggest Sergio fan, not so much AB, but both guys have glaring weaknesses technically speaking.

Foreman was a Sonny Liston protege, and overseen by Archie Moore, Sandy and **** Saddler. He had tremendous physical gifts, so they guided him as his body dictated, to best utilize those gifts.

You say he had slow feet, (Like people say about JC Chavez or Golovkin) but that's how he was trained, he wasted no energy in cutting off the Ring against mobile boxers. Foreman was one of the best in history that regard, proving it against Ali, who, although he beat him, had to go to the ropes as foreman constantly cut him off, then again against Michael Moorer. So technically his footwork was perfect!

A big criticism Ali threw at Foreman was the way he carried his hands in the fight, calling him "The Mummy", again technically speaking there was nothing wrong with this, it was a genius tactic Sandy Saddler also used. It served two purposes, firstly, it's an excellent way of "hand fighting", keeping it out like that serves to parry and evade Jabs and straight hands as the opponent has to get thru it, and it's easy to hook and uppercut off of, as Joe Frazier found out.
By keeping his hands out like that it also served help him cut off the ring, at 6'4 81" reach Foreman was as his nickname suggested "Big" by sticking his hands like that, it made it hard for opponents to judge distance and made him a bigger object in the ring. Once again, technically nothing wrong with it.

And lastly, without getting into too much detail as my post is already longer than I planned, foreman had some of the Heavyweight divisions most diverse and best Jabs, learning from his mentor Sonny Liston.

You mentioned about swinging wild, well other than the Ali and Ron Lyle fight, he did not swing wild. Again we are talking about a 25 year old Foreman who was broken mentally by Ali in that fight and had zero confidence going into the Lyle fight.

To sum up,
- Fast hands and feet does not = Technical ability, Physical Strength does not = No Technical ability.
- George Foreman had great Footwork, Defense, Ring IQ, Jab, Uppercut. So yes he had great technique

[toshmurph]

Similar to Wilder. Wilder was being outboxed against Spislka until he got him with that right hand.

Never compare George Foreman with Deontay Wilder! Ugh

[New England]

foreman was very skilled. people get thrown off by the open glove, crab defense, wide punch stuff, but the guy did have craft. great jab. great body puncher. could generate power from basically any distance and angle. put shots together. won a gold medal in the olympics ffs.

you really saw what craft he had when he came back and had success when all of his physical attributes [other than his power, whcih was diminished but still a big factor,] had diminished. in his comeback he was extremely patient. one of the most relaxed fighters you'll ever see. that is a skill! and an important one! it helps you last, gives you time to study your opponent, takes some fo the steam off of shots you can't see, etc!


in short, you DKSAB!

[TheBoxingXpert]

foreman was very skilled. people get thrown off by the open glove, crab defense, wide punch stuff, but the guy did have craft. great jab. great body puncher. could generate power from basically any distance and angle. put shots together. won a gold medal in the olympics ffs.

you really saw what craft he had when he came back and had success when all of his physical attributes [other than his power, whcih was diminished but still a big factor,] had diminished. in his comeback he was extremely patient. one of the most relaxed fighters you'll ever see. that is a skill! and an important one! it helps you last, gives you time to study your opponent, takes some fo the steam off of shots you can't see, etc!


in short, you DKSAB!

He was eating Frazier's hooks, he couldn't do anything against Ali's simple Arthur Abraham style, he generally took a lot of punishment and it was his physical attributes that made him great. The later returned Foreman actually still managed to survive on physical attributes alone, combined with heart.

[New England]

He was eating Frazier's hooks, he couldn't do anything against Ali's simple Arthur Abraham style, he generally took a lot of punishment and it was his physical attributes that made him great. The later returned Foreman actually still managed to survive on physical attributes alone, combined with heart.

that's exactly what he was thinking during the fight:

"just be like arthur abraham and you'll get one of the biggest wins ever in a boxing match."

[Robbie Barrett]

He was eating Frazier's hooks, he couldn't do anything against Ali's simple Arthur Abraham style, he generally took a lot of punishment and it was his physical attributes that made him great. The later returned Foreman actually still managed to survive on physical attributes alone, combined with heart.

I find it hilarious that you called yourself the boxing expert, you don't know shit.

[Tom Cruise]

The greatest HW pressure fighters of all time. Ofcourse he was skilled. Taught by Sandy Saddler himself iirc. (Edit: looked this up to check. Foreman was taught by **** Saddler (sandys cousin) and overseen by Sandy)

His ability to cut the ring off, herd opponents into his punching range and batter them with some of the hardest punches ever thrown is second to none. That all takes skill.

He also had very underrated reflexes and could slip opponents shots much quicker than seemed possible for such a lumbering guy. His jab also was excellent. Very different to the quick jab of a guy like Ali, but almost as effective in its own way.

Also lol at the 'humble' 'polite' George Foreman statements

He was anything but in his prime. Even the post retirement version there are stories of his new amiable exterior cracking and the intimidating bully coming out underneath.