Say 21 year old Foreman turned pro in 1989. Does he rain on Holyfields parade? Does he tell Riddick Bowe hell no? Does Lennox Lewis end up in the unemployment line with a 'will work for a belt' sign? Does Andrew Golota or Francois Botha end Foremans reign of terror or do they become hapless victims of the Foreman machine?
Golota and Botha wouldn`t have stood a chance v Foreman, if he got his first title shot in `93 he would have beaten Lewis or Bowe, Lewis wasn`t that good at that point of his career and Foreman was fasr better than Ruddock, he then would have beaten everybody except Holyfield in a classic, Holy was better at defending his chin than any heavyweight in the 90`s aside from Vitali K. those were the only two I feel might have beaten George in that decade although Lewis would have given him a lot of trouble by the late 90`s, Holy said Foreman gave him more problems than Tyson when they fought because his punches were straighter, Foreman would score well with his jab v Holy and Lewis because both fighters wee open to that punch giving George an advantage, George may have picked up a loss before peaking in `93 though because he looked awful v Peralta a year before he won the heavyweight title, he gassed really badly in that bout.
Foreman with his mummy defense would still be too open up the middle to Lewis who would respect his power and fight cautiousl, get him outta there late. Young foreman didn't have that great jab yet and wasn't defensively responsible either. The 80s had alot of very good and tall movers and boxers that had idolised and copied Ali(some of them with some success). He would have trouble with the best versions of a Thomas, tucker, tubbs But he stops the faded 90s versions Foreman beats Bowe because Bowe gets hit too much and doesn't move He beats 90s Tyson He beats Morrison, mercer He beats ruddock and Bruno(possibly getting hurt himself) Beats 89-92 brawl happy holyfield Loses to Lewis 50/50 with 93/96 battle hardened, crafty and roided up Holyfield
Foreman used hooks and jabs to get Norton to move twards his right hand while parrying his jab with his rear glove, Lewis was very bad at evading jabs, Bruno and Mercer landed a lot of jabs against him.
Beats most of the 90's HW's. Agree that he loses to Lewis. Holyfield and Bowe I believe if they move and box might win a decision but could they stay disciplined enough to do that ?? Not sure. Tyson is a 50/50. He beats Moorer (obviously), Ruddock, Mercer (interesting fight that one), Morrison, Bruno, Hide, Golota, Botha. What about the K-Brothers ?? Vitali was a champ by the late 90's so technically he's a potential opponent.
Bowe couldn`t move and box at all, what fight did he do that in? Ali was shocked at how Foreman cut the ring off on him and knew he could only beat him one way, Young was just pot shotting, Bowe could not fight that way and would have been caufght after he punched because he was not defensively responsible after he punched, his head would be right there on the center line.
Think his toughest match is Lewis then Vitali later on...I think he wins 6/10 times against Lewis. He steamrolls everyone else...Holyfield included
He did OK in the 90s as a geriatric, so I have to think that he would have done well enough in his prime.
Lol he would have knocked out everyone. The fact that past it George could contend with Holyfield, give a close call to Morrison, and beat top dudes like Moorer, Qawi, Cooney and what should've been Briggs, he'd rise to the top. Holyfield mid rounds (early if ref stops it) Lennox early rounds Tyson early rounds Dominates Tua to a UD Byrd mid rounds Wlad early rounds Briggs mid rounds Moorer early rounds Morrison dies Bowe would have given him a good fight simply because of his chin and power, but Foreman would've out beasted him, perhaps for a late knockout. Vitali Klitschko ends a reign of terror by outboxing an older Foreman (this hypothetical Foreman wouldn't have adjusted the way real Foreman did) for a close UD.
Foreman's real success in the 1990s, calls the era into question quite frankly. When Marciano fought Louis, Holmes fought Ali, or Tyson fought Holmes, they did what a dominant champion should do to the great of the previous era!
Ali had parkinson`s before the Holmes fight and couldn`t even touch his nose during the mediacl test.
Foreman only did good in the 90s because he got bigger and lifted weights. The Foreman of the 70s was a whole different fighter from a whole different era who was too small and lacked too much technique to contend with the evolved HWs of the 90s. The younger Foreman would get destroyed by everyone who weighed over 230lb and trained with mitts. Not his fault, he was a great great incredible dominant awesome powerful fighter, for his time. But times change.
