1991 foreman vs Marciano

Old Man Foreman had his limitations no question. He couldn' cut the ring like he once could. His hands were not as quick and sometimes he had trouble getting off against movement.

With that said he still had power. George also showed an incredible chin in his 2nd career. Tommy Morrison, Michael Moorer and Holyfield among others were all good punchers. Foreman never went down once!


The reason why Foreman gets favored is that it is hard to picture Rocky adopting the same tactics as Morrison and Stewart. Those guys used movement and stayed out of George's wheelhouse. In reality he hurt Holyfield a couple of times and suprised some people. His performance was far from a joke. Moorer at the time was an undefeated Heavyweight Champion who was also an excellent puncher. Even Stewart was on the canvas 3 times before he got up and got on his bike.


Rocky gets a ot of credit for his determination, rightfully so. Old Man Foreman had the same determination.

 

Rocky would beat him like he beat Louis.

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Sonny, you clearly have never been in or out of a Ring........

Foreman does not take a back step....Marciano is not in a million years going to wrestle or push Foreman back.....Marciano begs for a Foreman uppercut..."Marcianos nose is starting to bleed"...Foreman could not miss with his jab even if he tried....old Foreman KO4 Marciano.....old Foreman would sign ANY deal to get into the Ring with a 5'9 180 pound face first brawler with a belt, fact not fiction.

Marciano had will, more will than most people have but he was not a natural athlete.......his body broke down way early, he was pretty much a young man when he retired.....his skin did not hold up.....his back did not hold up and ultimately he could not get down to his ideal fight weight of 185 anymore without being drained............very evident in his comeback effort.......the money was there, the opponent(s) were there but his body was no longer there....... Man gots to know his limitations

The clip also reminds us how tiny Marciano was.......great modern Light heavy or Cruiser but he would get murdered by Liston, Ali, Foreman,Holmes,Tyson Holyfield , Bowe, WK/VK and a mix of ABC interim title holders........Tubbs or Tucker would beat him from pillar to post, no doubt.

 

Correct. How could Marciano ever replicate what that bum Buster Douglas did to a peak Tyson?

 

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Maybe throw a jab , be almost a foot taller and 235 pounds ?

 

I have though.

Marciano had elite strength noob.
Foreman is not too big and strong at that age for Rocky to rough up.


Rocky knocked Louis out cold.
Nobody else had done that.

Louis being old is exaggerated by pop culture and stigmas left behind due to lack of data.
He was still a top level world class heavyweight who was stringing wins together over notable opponents, and he wasn't even 40. He probably could've kept going if Rocky hadn't put him through hell.

 

Old Foreman would have stopped that Louise impersonator as well....

Old Joe would be lucky to get into the third with Tyson.....

That shell of a shell would get stopped by almost ANY elite modern Heavy......I am going as far to sat that Tommy "Chin" Morrison stops him.

 

I wouldn't want to be Rocky coming in as he did leaned over forward face wide open at times for that Foreman uppercut .. Oh my lordy

 

Exactly. Wouldn't know what hit him.

 

Hang onto old myths as much as you want.
When you put a streak of wins together that Louis did, it means you're doing pretty well.

Because Louis lost to the legendary Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano, he's a withering shell of a man who walks around with a cane? Please. He was nothing like his prime, but still a great fighter. He might've held a title in the world of four belts.

He lost to Marciano only a year after the Charles loss, and had EIGHT wins in between, including one over the 7th ranked HW in the world. Impersonator? Please.

"Louis was 150 years old when he fought Marciano!"
Old tropes die hard....

 

Joe Louis had no right hand by that point. Even Rocky noticed it. After the fight he said something to the effect of Louis`s right being "nothing'.

 

Joe Louis, revered for his accuracy and his punching power, had an incredible 85% ko rate from 1934-1948 (if my quick math is right). His ko rate from 1950-1955 (against 10 small, mostly sub-190lb opponents) was only 30%.

 

Joe`s right hand was gone. He still had the jab and a great hook.

 

I just think Foreman has a few different options here that would work effectively keeping Rocky in his wheelhouse. I already mentioned I don't think it would be smart of Rocky to come straight in leaned over forward. Jab, if that wasn't working, he had the cross arm but more importantly the double glove push off against the smaller Rocky, or he could tie him up and reset.. I see Rocky if he was to have success having to move latterly a lot and throw from many different angles and try to be as rangy as he can against bigger Bald George .. I think this might be a style nightmare for Rocky, others might disagree, but I would never count him out as his toughness and will to win was unmatched

 

George Foreman, the bald version, would have difficulty jabbing Rocky. He did not have that regular defensive step off jab that Louis was forced to use against Rocky. George had a ram rod jab that was better suited to tagging tall statuesque fighters that used a completely different stance to Marciano. Even then, Foremans jab was was not a regular, flicking blow that could be doubled up. It was always sporadic. using it in a downward motion would half its effectiveness. Rendering it almost redundant against Rocky.

Yes bald George has got that uppercut but that was a difficult blow to land on Rocky because of how low he swayed and because of the foot position he used. The position Foreman would have his hands lining Rocky up for it would totally expose him to overhand rights and crashing hooks he would not see coming.

Where is the work rate and tempo from Old George to try and control Rocky? Old man George huffing and puffing, shipping all those hammer blows to his head and blubbery waistline.. getting tagged each time he tries to push Rocky off. It would be a cruel person expecting such an old timer like George to cope under that intensity. The unpredictable sequence and regularity of blows would befuddle him if he could take the power. But I don't think he would. George really is too old to compete here.

Bald Foreman has that Archie Moore cross arm deffence that Rocky penetrated expertly against the real Archie Moore. Why would Rocky hit bald George any less than he hit his master?

The Herculean strength of Foreman would also be neutralised with the smothering tactics and lower centre of gravity of Rocky.

George gets tired first. And he gets busted up. Bravery would not save him.