How good was prime George Foreman?

No, what Ali showed was a)Foreman cut off the ring very well.

b) Foreman had a very good chin and would literally walk through most guys best punches, as he did to Frazier and later Moorer and Morrison

c) Foreman had one punch KO power. Ali himself admitted Foreman hit him with one punch on the ropes which had Ali entering a dark tunnel i.e going to sleep.

 

Yes Foreman did cut off the ring, he was able to anticipate the direction Ali wanted to go but once he trapped him "what Ali showed" was that George did not have the maturity to completely exploit the situation. Later frustration 'ate away at his focus. Jimmy Young put some moves on him and was able to sleepwalk George into a point in a fight where he became frustrated also.

Ali showed this or Frazier, moorer and Morrison showed this?

I think Foreman had excelent radar. He didn't have to think about a punch landing. He could walk up and instantaneously know he could reach a guy with what ever punch. Lead uppercut. Anything. This is a very rare thing. And when he closed distance he just walked up. Not a boxer step, just walked up without setting himself. And it worked. For an opponent This is hard to work with.

So whilst he appeared to walk through punches George was actually walking in with his punches too. He was good at meeting a guy with his punch. So The other guy was wary. They're losing that half moment to set themselves because he did not need to. You take away the other guys chance to get set you take half the power. A guy like Frazier had lost that bit of range anyway, still a great fighter against most people but joes anticipation was no longer where it needed to be against george. Frazier used to be the guy that could hurt a guy on the way in himself. Joe was no longer that guy. Fighting Foreman without being a force at more than one range left Frazier naked. But he used to have two ranges up until TFOTC. Ali matched him at range. Young and Lyle timed him.

Yes Foreman had two handed one punch power. It is a great asset.But George was never a complete fighter in the true sense. There was stuff that could be exposed. A guy who could time him, last to the point where focus and energy slowed him down had to be pretty good but there was stuff to exploit at championship level.

 

Good observation. He displayed that in the C00ney fight. After dropping Jerry and being instructed to commence boxing after going to the neutral corner, big George strolled up to C00ney and just plastered him with a lead left uppercut. No measuring, no getting into a stance, nothing. He just instinctively judged the distance and landed a huge shot which was perfectly placed.
Okay Jerry was stationary and covering up, but still.

 

Foreman's chin was amazing. The ONLY person to have knocked him out was Ali and that was due to stamina.

Foreman's fought some nasty punchers and absorbed them no problem.

 

WOW:happy Took me years before i connected the dots the lady cop from Die Hard with a vengeance was the french maid from clue!! 40-0 Foreman bombs out most. Yeah the 80s hw were slick and polished, but they could be broken down by freakish power ala Tyson. Foreman brings the punching power and the physical strength. Let's not forget a great stiff jab, reach, chin, and a mean streak. Ali said he was out on his feet in that fight by the way.

 

great example.:good he did this lots of times and always had that.
It's a very rare thing. Instinctive radar.

 

He's over rated, partly because fans of Ali and Frazier inflate his worth.

While Foreman was not doubt a devastating puncher, he wasn't very poised and problems with his stamina. Not really a good boxer or fast handed either.

You could say Foreman's signature wins over Frazier and Norton were complete made to order guys due to the style of Frazier and just okay chin. Norton who tended to freeze vs big punchers and didn't have a good chin either.

 

:good

 

not at the time could you say that. With hindsight we can say a few things suited Foreman but to be fair to him they were the best two out there once Frazier had beat Ali. Nobody else around at the time could have beat those two like that. George wasn't just uniquely placed he was unique enough to do it.

The style of Frazier and the chin he still possessed at that time would have been enough for the rest of the 1970s division at that time. it wasn't so much the style of Frazier. Sometimes it's difficult to forecast if an untested prospect has the goods or not, George was nothing more than a prospect against Joe, that's why Frazier was so heavily favoured. Frazier was untested since the Ali fight. Foreman was just untested in general. As it happened it turned out to be just as difficult to forecast what Frazier had left as it was to determine what this Olympic kid Foreman had. Truth is Foreman was a lot better and Frazier a lot worse than previously thought.

he was an elite heavyweight though. Kens stock was high then. If big punchers beat Norton then Foreman had to do it when it was harder to do than when ****ey and Shavers did it.

 

Frazier was 20 pounds overweight removed from his 205 prime weight in the second fight with foreman he was about 10 pounds overweight the first time.I would hardly call Frazier a real favorite here when his prime was the 60's to 71...ali was the underdog vs a ten year past prime slow liston who really believed that one?People of that time were as gullible as ever,i would have been rich in those days like the mob too.Much like the big size deifferanc eof Ali/foreman they played out,they were a mere 4/5 pounds difference between the two.

 

Yup,the power was there but its direction was not.

 

Well just about everybody, hence the odds!
The only one I know who picked Ali was my Father and he backed it with a bet.I thought Sonny would murder him.
They didn't play up the size difference of Foreman and Ali, they played up the fact that Foreman had destroyed two top contenders in a total of under 4 rounds, top contenders who had both beaten a 32 years old Ali!

 

No he didn't have problems with his stamina as he proved when he came back as an old man and went the distance with the world champion without once taking his stool.
Foreman in his first career had problems with his pacing,big difference.

 

Foreman's accuracy against Co*ney was excellent.:good

 

Foreman's power though... Damn!