Could Young Foreman absorb 90s blows as well as Old Foreman?

It stands to reason that in a younger body he should be able to take them as well or better. Some have said that the extra weight he carried in his comeback helped to stabilize him better but I don’t know if that would make a difference while being hit in the face AND with an older body. One thing which helped him later was his use of the cross arm defense which I think took some of the sting off those shots

 

Yep

 

I don't see how it could be otherwise.

 

I wouldn't say his ability to absorb punches were any better in the 90s, i just think he learned to relax better in the ring and pace himself better. Along with altering his defence to the cross arm style in the 90s.

I mean for example look at Gregorio Peralta vs George Foreman 1, Foreman didn't pace himself in that fight. And was exhausted by the end, and was getting rocked towards the end because he had nothing left. Same with George Foreman vs Muhammad Ali/Jimmy Young.

I mean could you see Foreman in the 90s trading blow for blow with Ron Lyle ? Foreman was a much smarter fighter in the 90s, and had a better defense. Along with being more relaxed in the ring and pacing himself better.

 

A prime George Foreman of let's say 1973 did not need to absorb punches like the 1990's version because the prime George was a very offensive styled fighter back then. We are not talking about the fractured ego version that fought Ron Lyle in 1976, after having his aura of invincibility destroyed by Muhammad Ali in 1974. The prime George had the stare of his boyhood idol Sonny Liston, he would go out and shove his opponents around very menacing, looking to decapitate them, inflicting volatile pain with each blow, smothering his adversaries with heavy punches until they wilted to the canvas. The 1990's edition of Foreman was a smiling respectful gentleman who did not make his craft personal, it was business. George was a more flabbier fighter whose sole purpose was to make money was for his church, he was no longer scary. A big difference in both versions of George, who was now a more mature man in an out of the ring.

 

I only time Foreman was ko'd was against Ali that had more to do with Foreman being gassed than actually hurt.

 

You have nailed the truth to a wall Sir, good job.

 

I mean he says it in his own book. He couldn't relax when he was younger and was overly anxious to just get the fight over with. He was obsessed with getting knockouts similar to young Tyson, Wilder, etc. His defense was definitely a key factor in the second career as well. Anytime 70's Foreman couldn't block or parry a shot, he just absorbed it, grunted, and kept punching. He didn't respect other people's power and took advantage of his solid chin.

One of the guys I trained with said learning to relax while fighting is like a video game cheat code. It completely changes how you fight and you are better able to manage your energy.

 

I don't think people realize how many clean shots Foreman absorbed in his first career. Look at Frazier landing his signature hook on him and making no impression on George. He got hit even by lesser fighters at the beginning of his career (when his defense was poor, he improved a lot within first 3 years). People simply don't remember these moments because Foreman kept going.

 

I'm gonna say no seeing as a young Foreman held on for dear from one shot by Ron Lyle which something that never happened in his later career when he fought bangers like Cooney and Morrison.

 

The reality is he was eating tons of shots easy from huge punchers like Cooney and Morrison and those combinations he took from Holyfield were insane.

He never showed a chin like that against Lyle, or lighter punchers like Ali, or featherfisted Young although he was gassed against Young and Ali so those 2 are understandable. But Lyle almost had him out of there. Evidence points to older foreman having better defense, better pace, and a better chin chin

 

Evidence suggests Lyle hit him harder than Cooney, Morrison, and Hoylfield.

Occam's razor: the simplest explanation is the most likely.

By the way, Cooney only landed a few good hits before getting utterly steamrolled and knocked out in less than 2 rounds. Morrison used hit and run tactics and rarely sat down on his punches. Hoylfield had decent power but was not some major hitter. Look at the context of the fights. Against Lyle, not only was he coming off a layoff and had his confidence shattered, it was basically a wild west shootout. Lyle is the only opponent who stood there willingly trading flush bombs with Foreman.

 

Pretty sure it was Foreman who claimed Cooney and Lyle hit him the hardest after the Cooney fight. Im not sure if he claimed who exacly hit harder but he said without a doubt Cooney is one of if not the hardest he's ever fought so they're probably around the same ballpark in power and Cooneys stoppages suggests he hits harder.


Those left hooks Cooney were getting in were no less flush that that one right hand Lyle landed that had Foreman hanging on in round 1 and the rights he landed in the 4th that put him down. Not sure about Morrison though but he was said from common opponents to hit harder than Tyson. He was also landing several hooks that did nothing to 1990 foreman.

If Morrison survived long enough to get all of those shots in on 1970 Foreman (he probably wouldn't), would those shots do nothing ? Not even stun Foreman and hurt him once ? IMO i dont think so, not based off of what I've seen anyway. He was on the backfoot most of the fight but he stood and got off a lot of hard hooks into Foremans face in spots.

You do have a point that context matters, but i do think 1990 Foreman could take a shot better, not that 1979 Foreman couldn't, he obviously could