Who was more athletic and physically gifted, George Foreman or Mike Tyson?

Foreman was stronger, Tyson more explosive and faster.

 

Ill go with Tyson, since Foreman had more power, but Tyson much more speed.
Although you could say it is about even because Foreman is much taller & longer.

But add in general agility & stamina at their peak I'll still pick Tyson.
He truly had freakish natural abilities.

 

Tyson was the fastest HW since Ali while also being one of the hardest hitters of his era. That's a more solid set of gifts than the physical strength / heavy hands that Foreman had. Also, I'd bet Tyson probably was freakishly strong but it didn't really show in fights because he never learned how to grapple/wrestle properly for boxing. Half the reason Foreman seemed so strong in the ring was because he was quite good with grapping/wrestling, knew how to utilize leverage well, etc.

 

To be an 8 (or so) out of 10 in power while being a 10 out of 10 in hand speed is just nuts. How many HW's ever had quicker hands then Tyson? '67 Ali and.. who? maybe a young Patterson?

 

Tyson was more athletic and gifted with more speed and explosive power. Foreman was physically stronger, had more raw power, and was a bit more durable with a sturdier chin.

What's often overlooked is how hard Tyson trained. Some people think he just rolled out of bed and had the perfect genetics and talent for boxing. He worked his ass off and developed that talent through grueling training with a killer spartan schedule. I remember a guy on YouTube tried his training regiment just for 1 day and was exhausted all week feeling ready to pass out

 

Of all of the heavyweights, I would say that young, prime Tyson has the best chance of beating young, prime Ali. Ali is quicker with better footwork but if he can't stay away and score points with his boxing ability, the first four or five rounds are going to be a nightmare for him.

 

Mike Tyson was a true freak, 218 pounds of bundled fast twitch muscle, already 200 lbs or so at 12. Mentally his mind was only suited for fighting but physically he was transferable to quite a few sports.

Foreman was gifted himself with great strength but he was slow, and he'd admit that.

 

This might sound strange, but this brings to my mind a question: just how would a 1960, peak Liston have really done against even 67 Ali? To be honest, I think he would have done better than Mike. Mike had pretty much one way in (which means he would have taken far more unnecessary punches), while Liston was far more adaptable.

Liston quite possibly was a significantly better boxer than Mike even at his peak, and was more powerful.

Either way I think both of them lose, but I see Mike getting stopped in 10 by Ali, Liston making it longer, possibly knocking Ali down on the way. Once Mike got derailed by the jab enough, he'd do what he always did and slow his act way down. That wouldn't make it against Ali.

Mike couldn't take all the punches Ali would have to dish out, and Ali was arguably a better puncher the longer he was champ. I think peak Liston would change his gameplan fairly soon and work more on boxing Ali, watch the Eddie Machen fight to watch how he changed up in brilliant fashion.

Just my opinion, all respect to your views.

 

@Ironfox222 no offense but I think you asked 2 different questions:

1.

"physically more gifted", i.e. who has better genetics - George Foreman. Foreman was very strong at a very young age (I also count the power of the punch); he would be very strong without any training; that he did not train boxing at all. He was, one might say, a genetic freak.Watch Foreman fight a Soviet boxer in the finals of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics:

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Forman's Olympic final is his 26th fight (the Soviet boxer has about 10 times as many fights), and he has been practicing boxing for a very short time, 2-3 years.

2.

Mike Tyson
Tyson's daily routine as a teenager in puberty was terrifying. He was all about boxing; all day, all life. From getting up around 4 in the morning, running, then taking a second nap,... In the evening, he relaxes by watching VHS tapes of Jack Dempsey fights. Angelo Dundee and Mike Tyson made boxing a religion that included spirituality.
But the final outcome was: explosiveness, agility, stamina, speed, head movement,...

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Prime Tyson would meet his match vs Tony Galento

 

There is no doubt that Tony had his own unique set of skills.

 

Only difference I have is that while Foreman did have some deep skills-framing, parrying, cutting off the ring...
He was not so good at leveraging his strength & grappling.
He could shove folks well due to great innate power.

But Ali was certainly not as strong, his effective strength in grappling exceeded George-you saw it in Zaire.
Part of it was also exhausting Foreman in the way we both are familiar with.
But he also was better at leverage & on your feet wrestling/grappling.

Edit: I also think Tyson was a 9 in power.
But that is very high indeed, combined with his foot AND hand speed, pretty unique

 

Foreman admits too much; that is he is so infamously modest & uses such hyperbole since he became "good" that ironically you cannot trust him lol!

In his first career he was often pounderous but also could be fast & explosive-from the jab to cutting off the ring-Ali was shocked by how quick he was.
Yes it was a small ring.
It was also SLOW bad for movers.
Hence Ali adopted his much ballyhooed strategies...

 

Yeah but Tyson was also naturally extremely strong, as per the stories of what he benched as a kid lifting for the first time show.
Also speed cannot be developed that much, the ability to move so fast, hand & foot, was the fast twitch muscle fibers & other natural gifts.

I think the speed makes Tyson even more gifted.