Zaire, who else could have beat Foreman that night ?

Which ones ? The only top man from the eighties whom I'd bet on with any confidence to beat Foreman would be Larry Holmes.

 

Eh.........?????



Maybe if Toney was a NATURAL heavyweight in his prime years.

 

Holmes and Tyson for sure. Maybe even Tubbs with his slickness, Witherspoon with his chin and toughness, Thomas, Page, Tucker, Dokes and maaaaaybeeee Douglas. These guys would have to be at their very best. Bowe as well.
We just never saw Foreman matched with these kind of fighters, and when he did match up (Ali and Young) he lost.

I probably wouldn't bet against Foreman but these guys do have a good chance. Foreman aint running the table.

 

besides jimmy young; i would go with johnson, dempsey, tunney, baer, louis, holmes, holyfield, and lewis. forman could only get away with those wild swings for so just so long- eventually ali and later young took him to task. even so- not many imo

 

Foreman came out looking bad from start, Ali did nothing but wait and hold. George was falling apart, as he usually did back then, after 5 rounds. Foreman was also nervous about way things were going in Zaire, he was not allowed to leave when he wanted to, and Ali and Don King had painted him as White man's champ, leading to rumors of riots if Ali lost.

 

I can still only envisage Holmes,out of this lot,beating Foreman.

 

one of the best defensive fighters all time, one of the best chins of all time. I fail to see what's so 'Eh' about it. Although. Sure he wasn't so much of a mover, but arguably better defensively than Ali minus the legs and foot speed. It's not like he's feather fisted either. He stopped Holyfield who is in the same sort of league as Foreman in terms of his ability to take a punch. I can definitley envision it happening.

I'd also give Jack Johnson a very good chance. Although it's tough to comparing the earliest era of heavyweight boxing to the more modern ones, he has the perfect style to do exactly what Ali did in Zaire and make Foreman gas.

 

I agree that Johnson would have had a good chance.

 

Lots imo.

80+ degree heat, high humidity and his tactics? Wing away and hope for the ko. Any boxer who could make it past the half way mark would have George in their pocket.

 

Too right ! Ali was winning most of the rounds. By the end of the fifth or sixth,George's face was lumping up.

 

Not many could have made it that far though

 

That is true, but Ali fans don't want to hear it apparently.

 

Nobody...
maybe Liston at his best or Larry Holmes, thats it.

Or maybe Tyson from the berbick fight. That would be fun to watch

 

D Atomic Bull of course, and only him, not Larry Holmes, not Muhammad Ali and not Jimmy Young, not them 4 sure unless 4man comes in dehydr8ed and possibly drugged in2 a very hot day facing d sun while having criminally loose ropes so Ali/Young could avoid&absorb it better.