George Foreman training footage

Foreman would have made an impressive powerlifter

 

When Norman Mailer spoke of Foreman's bag work, his words strongly suggested he witnessed it multiple times. It would be difficult to dent up a bag before cameramen and observers arrived multiple times. And with a fight coming up, it would be a huge waste of time to frequently play up theatrics.

As for him hitting the same spot...you would still need to be able punch extremely hard to leave a football sized dent in the first place. Especially for the bag to still look that even after he takes his gloves off.

 

Indeed, both Mailer and Peppard were awed by Foreman's heavy bag performance and documented it. Foreman was the real deal, there didn't need to be any theatrics.

 

Gotcha, not to question George’s power - I’m in the choir - but just chewing on the unprecedented effects of a punch on a heavy bag. Almost literally seems unreal.

I know Mailer’s description very well -“one of the more prodigious sights…etc” in ref. to Foreman’s heavy bag work. Excuse my ignorance, but the only Peppard that comes to mind is the actor George.

I also like the long shot of George hitting the bag with jabs - the power is insane and besides the resounding THUDS, hearing the wrenching of the metal fixtures just adds to the effect.

In all honesty, if Shavers had hit the bag exactly as Foreman did, could you imagine him to be equally as impressive?

 

George Plimpton, Pug.

 

Maybe-but he might not be. While it seems clear Shavers hit at least a little harder than Foreman, he was generally more explosive.
The natural pushing strength of Foreman was likely superior. As in even more heavy-handed. Literally huge hands (& wrists) help with this. Heard he atributed his power to those wrists.

Also overlooked is how absurdly heavy those bags were, 300 lbs. I believe.
I am no boxer, but try hitting a bag nearly that heavy & dense. It is hard to do so without feeling pain in your hand & wrist, fuhgettibout making a literal dent-at least of any consequence-in it!

 

Thanks Ezz but they referenced Peppard, I know “George”’Plimpton, so is that who they meant? Cool.

 

There’s a particular clip of Joe Louis hitting the heavy bag - you can hear and see the difference in the delivery of power.

Joe’s power is channeled perfectly through the chain to fist and in the direction of the punch and each one sounds like a gun shot.

George’s were more like thuds, the power not so concentrated, diffracted somewhat, for want of a better term.

 

Yeah Foreman was a heavy, clubbing puncher. Shavers, Louis, and Wilder were more explosive. Foreman's heavy hands and robust frame is part of what made him hit so hard. It's like comparing a 5 pound hammer made of steel going 5 mph vs a 5 pound hammer made of wood going 15 mph. Both are going to hurt like absolute hell, but the more dense metal hammer's destructive capacity is more evident and natural despite the lack of speed.

"Not concentrated" is a good way to put it Pugguy. A battering ram vs a whip. That's the difference between Foreman type of punchers and explosive punchers. He punched through the target with far less finesse causing major damage spread out unevenly. The other types punched at the target causing major damage in the concentrated area.

 

This is a very good summary off of Puggy's observations!
I think part of what made Shavers #1, at the very least for anyone around his size, it he shared aspects of the explosive punchers as you observed, but also had long lever & huge hands & a big bone structure-associated with being heavy handed & clubbing power.

 

Exactly. Plus, Earnie really knew how to put the whole side of his body into that right. You can see him lunging in. With that kind of style, it's hard to finish (one's balance needs to be corrected a lot more strenuously, and it takes a TON of energy to throw shots like that).

 

Yup. Basically shavers was like a powerful baseball hitter who lacked the stamina to run around the diamond to finish the job. A bit of a liability unless he knocks it out the park. Shavers power was absurd, but if the opponent was good at surviving he was often the one on the receiving end of a beating due to his lack of endurance.

 

Ali’s team either prevented or tried to prevent Ali from attending/observing Foreman’s workouts for obvious reasons. I think this was mentioned in WHEN WE WERE KINGS among other sources.

Just a short clip (go to 17 secs) of Louis hitting the heavy bag in prep for Max Baer - though Joe isn’t too enthused and doesn’t go all out it’s still impressive nonetheless with excellent audio pick up.

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I think Louis is the most technically correct heavyweight puncher I have seen,he reminds me of a giant version of Arguello.

 

No, Arguello punches like a small Louis.