George Foreman - a freak of nature?

[juggernaut666]

When i rate Foreman i rate the 90's Foreman over the inferior 70's one who was not overly a thinking fighter most of the time . I think Foreman had a top 3 best chin and as far as one punch k.o power definatly top 10 and jab includedbut he is severly overatted on the base he had beat a declining Frazier who never beat a true HW power puncher and was even 224 pnd in the second Foreman fight from his 205 natural weight .

Best wins Frazier and Moorer , he fought in a very tough 90's era and really lost some matches he was awarded wins and avoided some fighters from both eras so it raises questions on his overall career . He didnt sighn Don Kings Contract to fight Tyson ,contrary to opinion ,side stepped Holmes and Tucker (stripped of belt ) avoided mandatory rematches ( Shultz ) and self admits to ducking Shavers and Quarry , two big HW's Bowe and Lewis he certainly stayed away from...... i just dont see how Foreman is in anyones top 5 ATG list bc its not actually based on anything but a lot of k.os . Had he fought reputable guys and won in his come back there would be more to go on here but his win over Moorer doesnt do it for me even at his age in 1994 to put him as this unbeatable fighter and the 70's Foreman who lost to Young was not better he was younger thats it , Foreman ranks right up there wit the most excuses why he lost by fans ........ the ts for the most part is right.

[LoadedWraps]

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"?

A guy like Tyson Fury muscles a prime Foreman to the ropes and outworks him. Fury can take a punch, and his height and reach advantage and slick head movement, it would be a war, but Fury would eventually force Foreman into submission with savage body shots and sledgehammer fists to the temple following faints.

[stuff jones]

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

Just dropped way too much knowledge for here.

[Weltschmerz]

Great fighter, I would mention his ability to cut off the ring other than his tremendous power, obviously.

[toshmurph]

Just dropped way too much knowledge for here.

Haha, sorry! And halfway thru I purposely shortened because I thought it was getting too much!

[toshmurph]

People might not agree with me, but i really dont think Ali wanted to be on the ropes as much as he was in his fight with George.

In the ealy rounds it looked to me like Ali wanted to move and box, but Foremans pressure, and Ali's diminished athleticism, was consistently trapping him on the ropes.

Willing to be proved wrong though if there is stuff which shows that Ali was training to fight that way

100% Agree

[TheBoxingXpert]

A guy like Tyson Fury muscles a prime Foreman to the ropes and outworks him. Fury can take a punch, and his height and reach advantage and slick head movement, it would be a war, but Fury would eventually force Foreman into submission with savage body shots and sledgehammer fists to the temple following faints.

I'm a big Fury fan and I'm well aware that he would beat a lot of legends, like Louis and Marciano. But he wouldn't beat Foreman. Foreman is a fairly big guy himself and while Fury's chin is underrated, I'm pretty sure it would collapse under the power of Foreman.

[juggernaut666]

A guy like Tyson Fury muscles a prime Foreman to the ropes and outworks him. Fury can take a punch, and his height and reach advantage and slick head movement, it would be a war, but Fury would eventually force Foreman into submission with savage body shots and sledgehammer fists to the temple following faints.

Im not so sure Fury stops Foreman but he out points him most likely . People Forget Foreman more than anyone relied on size and he lost to Jimmy Young and Ali who were little to the 6'9 fleet footed Fury . The main difference is Fury would be leaning on Foreman not against the ropes he would do that in late rnds and Foreman had poor stamina if we are going by 70's Foreman .

Here was my break down of that match .....

Foreman is one of the few past timers pre 80's i would give a chance to defeat Fury ,but thats only because his power . Fury while not looked at as a power puncher is still 250 plus .Foreman was 220 at his best 70's weight and relied greatly on size Jimmy Young was able to tire Foreman out a bit and drop him so i cant see where another skilled boxer who was 50 pounds heavier couldn't . I would favor Fury over 70's Foreman pretty comfortabley .His reach ,boxing ability and physical weight to make Foreman work would slow Foremans usual pressure attack. Fury would not take Foreman lightly so the slower power puncher would need that blunt force shot and i would say this falls in Tysons favor of just staying on the outside of what i would envision a boxing clinic to the wild Foreman after 5 rnds .Fury is not a hard body puncher so i wouldn't expect much damage there ,it will be by accumulated punches to the head if he stops Foreman addedto Foremans own exhaustion carrying Tysons weight .

Foreman of the 90's would stand a better chance ,better jab , chin and smarts along with setting up sneaky punches that he could manage on Fury if Fury takes the bait . I still favor the lengthy boxer here because these were the types who made Foreman look really bad at times . Speed , stamina , boxing , ring generalship ,over chin ,and brute force .

Fury over 70's Foreman via K.O 9th rnd

Fury over 90's Foreman Via decision win

[*TonyMontana*]

Big George can still ko most right now
Legend

[juggernaut666]

Agree with everything apart from Fury not being a good body puncher. He's pretty decent at it.





Waiting for Bum excuses.

Fury is a good body puncher but not power , unless he does it in a clinch while one hand is free .