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

Expectations, perceptions, expert opinions, etc. leading up to the fights mean nothing to me. I wasn't around during those days. I've been a fan of boxing since the '90s and have the benefit of hindsight and video. Like I said, Frazier was an ATG win for George but when you watch the fight -- the actual FIGHT -- you'll see that Frazier was the perfect height for George's uppercuts, and his inability to fight from a distance made him an easy target for Foreman.

People may not have known about Norton's weaknesses prior to the Foreman fight, but we sure as hell know them now. Like I said, I wasn't around back then and am basing my opinions purely on what I've seen as a fan of the sport for 20+ years. He had no chance -- absolutely zero -- of winning that fight.

I honestly don't care what people thought during the Ali fight -- I've watched the fight several times and Foreman looked like a complete idiot in there. He looked like a big, mindless brute flailing away without any ounce of form, timing or rudimentary skill. Last time I scored the fight, I gave Ali every round except one, which I scored a draw. Foreman was thoroughly outclassed by the better -- FAR better -- fighter in Ali.

 

I didn't make an "attempt at tearing down" this thread. OP, (along with RockyJim) is doing a fine job of that on his own. Unlike you, I have a life that doesn't consist of stalking Foreman threads, and shooting down any posts with the slightest hint of praise for him.

 

Foreman was a legitimate force of nature, and he did have other positive qualities as a boxer besides his sheer power.

The odds deeming Ali to be a 4-1 underdog were arguably more than fair. That's how awesome Foreman was.

It's just that Ali wasn't too shabby at tipping over legitimate monsters (see Liston, 7-1 underdog).

Foreman never got a rematch with Ali - a fight that would’ve been interesting. I’d still favour Ali but perhaps in a more difficult fight in other ways - and that’s if it happened without too much delay after Zaire, without Ali having passed through the hell and further wear/tear of the Thrilla.

Post Foreman, we didn’t see Norton’s so called chinniness until Ken was well past prime -, some 5-7 years later, when Ken was about 35 yo vs Shavers and the best part of 38 yo vs Cooney - two opponents whose punching power was right up there in the elite realm of Foreman’s, the absolute top 3 hitters of the era….

 

I love George's crude style. What he lacks in style, he makes up for in broken bodies

 

I agree. One thing about Norton is, his chin held up much better against Foreman than it did Shavers and Cooney (whom he was past prime for both, and flat out shot against the latter).

 

Lyle fight is the only one 4 me. I can watch him against Ali n Young I love those fights too but just those 3.


His Holyfield performance is my favourite from him overall despite losing tho ofc past prime. That's what made it so impressive to me is that 17 years later he's facing again the best heavyweight at the time.

I apologize for going off track but yeah prime Foreman is not my bottle of juice.

 

Not taking away his accomplishments btw. Even tho he was a stylistic nightmare to Norton n Frazier those r still sum of his best wins. Advantage or not he got in there n did what he had to do.

 

I think you simplify things a bit too much here. It'not like every fighter that was Foreman's height beat Joe. In fact, Ali was the only other man to do so and those were much tougher fights. No one else did to Frazier what Foreman did.

When it comes to Norton your point stands better. He had a poor record against big bangers. Only really top level bangers, though. And Foreman was the only one to knock him out in his prime.

 

Two points. I'm a huge Miami Heat fan so I watch the games on League Pass and when I'm driving I listen to them on Sirius. If I miss a game I'll watch the replay if they win. Knowing the outcome changes everything, even if you watch the event the next day. My second point is I know a boxer who won Olympic Gold at the ripe old age of eighteen and his infectious nature led to him being dubbed the mayor of the Rome Olympics.

 

Bugner was 6'5" and Mathis was 6'3' and he whupped them.

 

I feel bad for Joe and his fans but that was like a scene from a movie