He beat them all. By the way, the Cooney that Foreman fought was not the coked-out one, that was the one that the light heavyweight Spinks fought. That Spinks would have been ko'd by Foreman as well.
Taken from Tysons Biography by Peter Heller Chapter 16: To Russia....With Love?, page 295 "With Tyson willing and anxious to fight, Bill Cayton outlined a plan for him that in the space of twelve months would earn him $50 million gross. It would start in December with the scaled down (due to the move indoors) purse of $6 million against Bruno in London. In Rio, during Carnival in February, there would be $9 million for an easy defence against Brazils Adilson Rodriguez, in April, $5-6 million for a mandatory defence in the United States against number one IBF challenger Carl Williams, followed by a bout for perhaps $10 million in Milans soccer stadium against Italian challenger Francesco Damiani in June. Then would come the big one, the next 'super fight', late in the year, a closed circuit and pay per view $20 million payday for Tyson against undefeated World Cruiserweight Champion Evander Holyfield. Tyson would then finish the year in Japan, which desperately wanted him for another performance, against 41 year old former heavyweight champion George Foreman. The only thing Bill Cayton had not taken into consideration, the one thing that would rend all these plans asunder, was the sudden re-entry into Mike Tysons life of Don King' End Chapter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 19: Defeat! page 337 "Following his victory over Frank Bruno came an offer for Tyson to defend his crown in, of all places, China. The Chinese government agreed to back the fight with $25million, with a target date of November. The opponent was to be former champion, George Foreman, now making a comeback. Estranged manager Cayton said Tysons share would be $20million. But shortly afterwards came the student rebellion and in the wake of the Chinese governments brutal oppression of the pro democracy demonstrators, the fight deal dissolved
There was a thread on here which has now disappeared with Don Kings fight plan for Tyson post prison After beating Holyfield, Tyson was meant to take Moorers IBF title, fight Mcall, Foreman, Briggs, Morrison and some others. Ive tried tracking the thread down but it seems to have gone.
Anyone not afraid of fighting foreman has a mental issue. I don't know if he was scared, but he didn't want the fight. The point of boxing is to fight opponents you can beat and look good doing it. If I was tyson's manager, whats in it for me to put my fighter in a risky situation when tyson was fighting it didn't matter who he was pummelling. And given how little time tyson was in the 90s, its hard to say.
Foreman is a smart guy and knew how to market himself well. It's one thing to continually mention another fighters name in public, but an entirely different matter when it comes to actually signing a contract to make such a fight happen. The whole 'Tyson ducked Foreman' thing is just one of the many myths that exist in boxing folklore. Doesn't matter how many times it debunked and disproven, people will continue to repeat it in an effort to con others into buying into such tripe.
Haven't read every post so sorry if i'm repeating anything but i don't see Tyson ducking Foreman. Of the posts i did read i'm sure the ones about contracts (gerorge not wanting to deal with King) are more nearer the point. IF the fight did happen i see it being an easy night fight for Tyson, a wide ud most likely. George was big and slow in his comeback and was not what i'd call overly mobile/elusive in his first career, all things Tyson loved fighting against. I feel Tyson beats foreman of any era, lets face it, if George struggled with the likes of Jimmy young and Ron Lyle, both B level fighters i think he'd struggle with Tyson. Also, comparing Tyson to Frazier is as absurd as comparing him to Tua.
I think the George of the 70's beats Tyson by frustrating him with his height and reach advantages and that pushing the smaller opponent away tactic he was so good at. I always wondered how he was allowed to get away with that tbh. The 87 to 90 version of Tyson beats the Foreman of that era, but the post Douglas version of Tyson who more or less loaded up on single punches probably loses to Foreman due to not throwing enough shots.