I don't get why people think a 70's Foreman beats a prime Tyson

I think Tyson could beat Foreman, but the question is does Tyson think that he can beat Foreman?

Going up against a guy like George with self doubt is a major problem.

Foreman is stronger and tougher; Tyson more explosive and accurate. I think who wins depends on who thinks he can win when the bombs start falling.

I'd favour Foreman about 60/40.

 

Because Foreman would claim the center of the ring

 

Honestly, I don't even think Tyson would beat any of the top 3 in the Golden Era.

 

Agreed, in the main. The only thing I wouldn't be sure of is whether or not post-Ali Foreman would go into tick-over mode against Tyson. It is, of course, quite plausible.

 

Cooper was 190 pounds, Wepner didn't floor him it was a trip.
Oh and by the way he knocked Foreman out.

 

Foreman hit harder than all those guys. He was known to hurt his opponents with glancing blows. Joe Frazier called Foreman`s fists 'wrecking balls' after their 2nd bout. Also George had a great jab when he used it. He seemed to use it against Frazier but not some other fighters. George would own the center of the ring and that mentally would be a hurdle for Tyson. I do agree that Tyson has a good shot himself. His quickness and combinations. He would have to end it early IMO because the longer it goes the more of a chance he melts down.

 

Isn't there a rule that as a Golden Age heavyweight legend, we're supposed to ignore all of Foreman's limitations?? Combine that with the caricatures of Tyson as a mental midget who collapsed whenever anyone stood up to him and it's not hard to understand at all.

In fairness though, while I think Foreman is too slow, hittable, and unpolished to favor over Tyson, it's really not that hard to imagine Tyson getting discouraged by Foreman's durability and his punching power, and maybe losing by late stoppage.

 

Well - to be fair - this is only to counter balance the modern fans’ tendency to forget Foreman was evacuated from Krypton, as a child, before he arrived on Earth; where he would later be bitten by a radioactive spider, whilst receiving an overdose of gamma rays - only to then discover he had the X-Gene and was to be secretly trained at the Dagobah system, by Yoda.

No shame in Tyson eventually giving way to that mountain of a challenge.

 

Hi mate, that's pretty much my take, unlike a lot of people I certainly don't write a prime Mike off entirely but I do slighty fancy Foreman due to his size and strength advantage and due to the fact that I think George is a very hard guy to beat by overwhelming him with speed and power as was Mikes usual modus operandi.

In the end nobody actually defeated Foreman by outbrawling him or attacking him. Everyone who beat him outboxed him.

Cheers All

 

Fair call.

 

I don't care what Lewis did or didn't do. Two immensely different fighters. Feel free to point out all these times Foreman was hurt early up to and including the Ali fight.

 

No, Tyson shouldn't be favored over Foreman, nor would I expect him to win that fight most times. As much as we like to disregard Tyson mental weakness, it was clearly on display many times. Even in victory, it was clear Tyson suffered when people stood up to him. Look at his display against Razor. He literally was trying anything in the book because he couldn't get the guy out of there and he was taking huge shots. It was almost as if he didn't mind taking the easy way out and getting a DQ with as many low blows as he threw. It was plainly obvious to anyone that he wasn't the strongest guy mentally, and I don't think even you would dispute that, so how is that mental strength going to hold up when he goes against a guy like Foreman? Foreman has a good stylistic chance, and you could that with Tyson's "weakness" and I'm not seeing how Tyson can be favored here.