Am I the only one who just can't watch George in his prime?

The young George had this freakish raw power that enabled him to hurt even if he threw the sloppiest of punches.

 

He must've been doing something right considering the only fighter to beat him in his prime was the GOAT and he had to go through hell to do so.

 

I think he looked pretty good against Chuvalo, Frazier and Norton. Ali made him look clumsy, though, and after that I think he looked less sharp over all.

 

George used to hit the heavy bag over and over with the same hand, leaving a dent in the heavy bag. Just a continuous, wind-up, telegraphed punch....which he'd often throw in the ring as well. He certainly had power, and would always do well against that Frazier/Tyson type style, but I also thought he looked terribly awkward at times. He wound up in an almost ridiculous manner on his punches sometimes, and wasn't all that fast for a guy who was about Monte Barrett's size. Has some good wins on his resume, no doubt, but didn't look anything like a great fighter as far as technique is concerned IMO. Not even sure prime George was all that much better than Old Man George. The older version certainly seemed to have better stamina anyway. The gap between a past-prime Ali and Prime George was very noticeable. George looked amateurish in comparison. Just my 2 cents.

 

Those were exactly the fights I was going to mention. Also, I thought George looked good in the rematch against Frazier (which you might've been including) and against Scott Ledoux (though I haven't watched the latter fight for a while).

But, if we're talking relative to Sonny, I can understand George suffering somewhat for that comparison.

 

I think he looked a bit unsharp in the Frazier rematch. Missed quite a bit.

 

Just watched him in the '68 Olympics beating the Russian HW ... he had no real technique, but his bludgeoning power kept the other guy at bay and won the fight. He was getting hit, but just walked through it - his counter kept the Russian from setting up anything effective. He apparently did learn footwork at some point, Ali said Foreman's cutting off the ring was one of the reasons he went to the ropes, but like most strong guys, he fell in love with his power and it was just easier to knock the guy out ... but I remember Sean O'Grady on Tuesday Night Fights opining "Power rules boxing - but speed beats power." Valid point.

 

Sonny was way more skilled.

 

SRR is the GOAT.

 

Interesting. I thought he looked pretty good - now you've given me cause for a rewatch.

 

No you're not alone. Said this for years and know a few boxing fans that agree with me. Even my wife who knows a little bit about boxing cringes when I watch him.

 

George certainly had an ugly style but he was smart enough to fight to his strengths especially when he was older.

 

Well, Liston was just a plain overall boxer than George. In fact, Foreman could be seen as a taller, lesser skilled, more powerful Liston with a lesser (though still really good) jab.

That said, he's one of my favorite fighters and I love to watch him.