An out of shape, ageing Lennox cut up Vitali s face and stopped him, but what about a prime George Foreman? Does he terminate matters and put the elder K brother down??
Depends on his game plan and which George you are using. Vitali ain't outmaneuvering Sadler's Foreman and that version could and wanted to cut off the ring like very few other boxers in history could. That, and he was more than happy to go to war, so it could actually end up with Vitali on the ground, although I don't see Klitschko getting knocked out dead to anything else but a can't see it coming flush counter punch, which was not George's style. Klitschko had an all-time great chin and was a full-fledged SHW in size, but I don't think he had the power to make powerful punching juggernauts like prime-Lewis or Foreman fully respect him, which is never a good thing, because in such case whenever pure boxing fails them, they can go to war or punch with Vitali.
The Younger Foreman gases out trying to stop Vitali, but he cannot due to VK's Iron Chin, and his awkward defense. Foreman goes down in 11 rounds as he is stopped on his stool and does not come out for round 12. If the fight is scheduled for 15 rounds, he likely gets stopped in 14. Older Foreman would be a great fight. With his murderous uppercuts, well paced style and experience he would be a handful for the first 4 rounds. Vitali would just be to big, to busy and to tough to beat. Foreman loses a decision over 12. There is a reason Vitali is one of the greatest H2H heavyweights in history. He just has answers to every style.
A I don't see Vitali being successful here, really don't. Maybe him having a great set of whiskers works against him, giving him a sense of over confidence. I see George smashing the hell out of him and his brother having to jump in to save his life! The old Lewis battered him, the young George beats him to a pulp.
Vitali will have an out-of-body experience if he ever got into a ring with a young Foreman. No one had a plan to beat Foreman until Ali came up with a kamikaze plan of rope dope until George gasses out. Ali was able to pull it off and after that fight, Ali wanted nothing to do with Foreman.
Nah, I very much doubt it. Vitali was quite hard to land clean on and even if you managed, his chin was one of the ATG ones in boxing. Worse, he's bigger and has a higher workrate than Foreman. No doubt the early rounds would be competitive but Foreman isn't going to like the late rounds. Vitali had a very good gas tank partly because of his arm-punch style and Foreman had an iffy gas tank because he used to try to really whip them in there. I think Vitali crumbles him late.
I can't see a fighter like Klitschko who quit against a very light punching Chris Byrd (A fight he was actually winning) Having much of a chance against an aggressive, powerful punching, extremely physical fighter like Prime Foreman. Though Klitschko would actually be the bigger man , he never fought like it. Fighting in that typical Eastern European style of Jab-right hand clinch -push off, wash and repeat. Foreman would bring a type of physicality Klitschko and very few fighters of the last 30 yrs or so have seen and need to prepare for. The pushing pulling, tactics, the ability to make an opponent fight in a phone booth by his ability to cut off the ring. A great chin and underrated defense and endurance ( The defensive and endurance liabilities most posters on this site use as an example of a serious weakness were from actually one fight with Ali, it's an atypical representation of his ability) Foreman would be a extremely dangerous opponent for Kiitschko. A confident Foreman, or pre Ali would stop Klitschko with in 10 rds.
If he just goes in there bombs away like he did against Lewis with zero defense, he doesn't taste the canvas, he drools on it. However, if he is able to fight tall and keep Foreman at the range he wants, conserving his energy, things could tilt in his favor. He was able to subdue very strong sluggers such as Briggs and Peter, but neither of them had Foreman's jab or vicious body attacks and had zero game plan at all, just kept charging at him. I guess it depends on: -How well Vitali handles Foreman's body assault (stamina being a key factor for both men) -If Foreman can outjab Vitali. He was shorter but had the superior jab which could really bust up Vitali who had skin issues. -if Vitali sticks to the game plan and attempts to wear Foreman out as opposed to just going toe to toe. The aforementioned sluggers Vitali beat were rather 1 dimensional and didn't have his overall ring IQ or punch selection. Vitali also failed to actually knock down many of these guys so in spite of his KO% his power is a bit overrated. On top of that, Foreman is not going to just stand there getting his head snapped back clueless and content to just lose a wide decision. -Lastly, if Foreman can get inside and cut the ring off (highly likely), it would be that much harder for Vitali to do his usual upright European style peppering away with lots of straight shots down the middle. He'd have to fight at some point.
Against a young George Foreman, the fight could go either way with Vitali chopping up a gassed up Foreman, or Foreman TKO'ing him. Against old George Foreman, Vitali easily outboxes him.
This is the same guy who thinks Louis was not even a top FIVE heavyweight, nor would he beat a prime Baer with TWO good hands. I wouldn't take anything he says to seriously.
Lewis was clearly not out of shape as his performance showed but he was 37 .. I am one of the folks that feel young George was very over rated .. a monster match up for some but not others .. I see Vitali doing a number on him ..
You always have to give a world class puncher like foreman a chance. But on the surface I think it would be slim. Vitali Klitschko was very durable and at times even hard to hit flush.
Foreman only really tried to whip and use heavy blows when his opponent was badly hurt or weakened against the ropes. He fought at a very measured pace against Frazier, Norton, Chuvalo, etc and didn't just swing for the fences from round 1 every time. In the Ali fight he was literally told by his corner to keep punching and they were convinced Ali was ready to go. Still a bad game plan, but he didn't always fight that way. Ali had also gotten in his head making him rage out.
