Foreman-Liston comparison

What would you class him as then?

 

1) Who was the more powerful man?
Not much in it.
2) Who was more intimidating?
Not much in it.
3) Who had the better jab?
Liston
4) Who had the superior chin?
Not much in it
5) Lastly, and unrelated to the 6 points above, who had better defense?
Liston by a country mile.

 

He got peppered by Holyfield, Stewart and Moorer. Even Axel Rose lead singer of Guns and Roses found him..

 

Slugger/boxer

 

Talking about old man Foreman's defense

 

Foreman vs Liston is one of the greatest if not the greatest fantasy fights of all time. I like Liston to outbox and stop George, Sonny has the superior jab and I believe his jab would negate George's and Foreman would be ground down by Sonny and stopped around 8

 

1) Who was the more powerful man?

I think Liston was a little better at using his strength in the clinches and up close. Foreman tended to avoid fighting on the inside and always shoved guys away when they crowded him so it's a mystery how functional his strength is at that range. Foreman has Liston beat in terms of overall brute strength. He's possibly #1 in that category.

If you mean punching power, Liston's better fundamentals, balance, and traditional boxer puncher style made him the more dangerous puncher. He paced himself better and wasn't as open to getting countered when he went on the attack.

Both of them were vicious body punchers. I'd say Foreman was a whole lot nastier than Liston though as he purposefully aimed directly for places like the kidneys, solar plexus, etc and did so with such malice and force you had to look away.

Foreman had more raw clubbing power than anyone in history but also didn't have much snap or speed which made it easier to brace yourself or avoid a shot (thus diminishing Foreman's power and depleting his gas tank faster). Old comeback Foreman still didn't have any sharpness/explosivness but he did learn how to be sneakier and shorten up his punches a bit for more precision.

Foreman gets the slight edge here due to having absurd power in either hand with any punch in the book, being a better body puncher, and being strong as an ox, but Liston is no joke and not far behind while also being the more effective in both categories.

2) Who was more intimidating?

Liston. Everyone else is just copying him. Foreman was intimidating as f*** in the 70's don't get me wrong, but Liston looked through you like a dad who caught you eating desert before dinner.

3) Who had the better jab?

Liston's jab had better utility. He could control range with it, stop you dead in your tracks, set up a sledgehammer right hand, pop it out to puff up your eyes, or use it as a range finder. Both young and old George had incredibly heavy jabs but that's all they tended to use it for, as a battering ram to bust guys up or weaken their guard. Old George did learn that you can actually use it to score points eventually.

The edge goes to Liston for this category.

4) Who had the superior chin?

Liston didn't really get his chin tested except in the Williams, Marshall, and Ali fights but to his credit he never went down until he was like 39-41 years old and completely disinterested in boxing+drinking heavily. Liston also had good stamina for such a heavy hitter even when he got old (never gassed).

Both versions of Foreman got rocked and badly hurt many times, but both showed an incredible will of iron and determination. So I'd say prime Liston had the better chin and stamina, while Foreman had better recovery after being hurt and will power.

5) Lastly, and unrelated to the 6 points above, who had better defense?

Easily Liston prime for prime, but old George had underrated defense in some fights (although at other times he'd be lazy and walk in knowing his opponent couldn't hurt him like how he did in the 70's).

So I guess Liston had Foreman beat in every category except raw power, body punching and toughness/heart. Liston was the more effective overall boxer with better utility/skills while Foreman was more straightforward yet reliable in an all out war.

 

Foreman is miles ahead of Liston in the mental department

Liston was the "Big" guy in his time against skinnies.......Foreman fought what I would call modern Heavies.

Liston's chin and power is totally unproven against modern heavies after him and the Tame house cat dont count.......after the Clay debacle he never fought anybody with a pulse again.

Liston was slowwwwwww and methodical with good fundamentals but he was easy to find, no defense genius.

Lets go back to number one above.........Liston quit twice vs a green Clay while Foreman fought on until he could do no more.......and prime vs prime I am not convinced Liston would keep getting up while getting his bell rung down to pure will and instinct vs Lyle.

This fight would have come down to will and Foreman would have imposed his will over Sonny..............Liston aint no Ali who would rather die then quit..............next to Ali, Foreman, Frazier and Holyfield are most likely the strongest willed heavies of modern times, honorable mention goes to Riddick Bowe.