Could prime Tyson handle Prime Foreman?

Good reply.

TBH I think Foreman / Tyson at primes would be 50-50. I can see how folks could favour the one or the other though. We'll never know for sure. When you get such explosive guys in a ring together you could be looking at a blowout by one or the other guy. Then everybody gets on the "he'd never beat him" bandwagon whereas in fact it's a darn close fight. Their styles would make for a barnburner.

It's basically the bigger, stronger, tougher guy (Foreman) against the faster, more accurate and more polished stylist (Tyson) and every time I pick one, other arguments for the other guy pop up in my head. Maybe if Tyson hadn't gone to prison and if Foreman hadn't found God, we'd have the answer to this question

 

I take Tyson 90 % sure.
GF will have his supporters but im confident with Mike.
Prime Tyson is 87/88 ish ( Tyrell Biggs fight ?) Prime GF im guessing is Frazier/Norton .
I guess Mike slips inside GF's wide swings and causes damage. The more patient version of Mike from Bonecrusher / Tucker showed he could outpoint a bigger slower man.Prime Tyson is light years better than the version of Frazier ( and then Norton) that prime GF beat.

 

Yeah I certainly wouldn't base this matchup on mythical conversation Tyson had about it. I heard that story before but took with a pinch of salt. Also if he did say it who knows what he really meant, maybe it was tongue in cheek, or maybe it was respecting one of his old idols.

Tyson's speed and footwork could be an issue, foreman never really fought anyone like him so it's a difficult one, don't say Frazier.

 

I can't believe people think the man who couldn't back up Holyfield and was actually manhandled by him will walk straight in on George Foreman. Once Tyson STOPS MOVING FORWARD HE'S ALL TARGET! Be a miracle if Tyson heard the bell for round three

 

Tyson's footwork is straight ahead,and he throws wide shots, quick but wide. and he has to come into range of George. Foremans jab would stop Tyson cold, then the bombing would begin

 

I agree. Sometimes I picture Foreman winning and for a while there, maybe back in the early 2000's, I figured Foreman was all wrong for Tyson based off online forums. And most people use the Holyfield fights as proof that Foreman would push Tyson around like a rag doll. But as the years progressed and I actually studied both fighters from Youtube videos I realized that Foreman got hit by Peralta, Frazier, Ali, Lyle and Young quite often.

It's a good debate in their primes for sure. And yes, in most if not all fantasy matches I lean towards Tyson. I think he was the ultimate fighting machine who could beat any style as long as he had a good corner and handlers in tact. Nobody worked harder in the gym than Mike Tyson.

 

Foreman will be out hit and will have problems dealing with Tyson's side to side movements, angular attacks. Plus Tyson had an all time great chin, if Foreman does miraculously land and Mike takes it, he will be very demoralized. I see Foreman gassing and then Tyson going in for the kill.

 

Tysons chin is overrated to hell.

He was ktfo by a modest puncher at best in Douglas and battered to defeat by a Holyfield who hadn't scored a legit stoppage in 5 years. His whole durability aura is based on the Ruddock fights (whose power is massively overrated to begin with) and the fact he stayed upright for a whopping 8 rounds against Lennox Lewis during his absolute beat down even though the much lesser heralded Zeljko Mavrovic absorbed just as much for the full 12 rounds against Lewis.

His chin was solid but certainly not all time great as 5 stoppages out of 6 losses attests too.

Foreman is more likely to KO Tyson than the other way around in my view. In a battle of big hitters I'll generally go with the taller, stronger, tougher guy which in my view George proved himself to be.

 

I agree with this.
Mike Tyson was a destroyer in his own right but George Foreman's all wrong for him.
A quick brutal win for Foreman I reckon.

 

I think people who imagine Tyson winning this fight tend to imagine heavyweight boxing matches without all the ugly stuff that occurs and matters in deciding how styles mesh.
They picture Tyson coming in with clean accurate compact punches, weaving past Foreman's slower punches, using handspeed and perfect angles, combinations and head movement. Just two fighters, one buzzing around the other, the punches being attempted in clean air, relatively gentlemanly conduct. Just gloves landing on, or missing, targets, all very nice and hygienic.

In fact, what we'd really have is two beasts closing on one another, falling into clinches, pushing, pulling, wrestling, and ferocious punching on all sides.
Foreman was the boss. He fought the same way every time. I can't imagine Tyson effectively getting past his big arms and preventing himself from being pushed and pulled and bulled off balance from the get-go. Tyson just wouldn't have a skillset to adapt to this particular opponent. Foreman would push him back or push him down and take advantage of Tyson's low and squared stance, and he'd be throwing bombs Tyson's way from the outset.

That's just my take.

 

This is exactly how I feel on the matter Mr. Metallica

 

I think George would win but I also think it would be a very tough and entertaining fight.

 

I think it's possible. He'd have to slip George's shots on the way in and hammer the body. If he can survive the first 5 rounds, it's likely George would begin to slow down and Mike could punish him.

It's also possible George catches him on the way in and hurts and stops him.

Prime Tyson was better defensively than Frazier and hit harder.

This could go either as a Foreman early ko or a Tyson mid to late rounds tko.

 

That was a post prison way past prime Tyson.

 

Very true but Holyfield was past prime as well.