Corbett vs Foreman. 1893, 45 rounds

'73-'74 Foreman vs. '92 Corbett? George could cut a ring very well, I have to favor him. Corbett might surprise me, though.

If one came along in (born into) the others day and developed in ratio to how they'd developed to the opportunities/environment/boxing-evolution of their own day, I think it's a pretty close odds fight. Put it this way, Corbett has to be the both 'quite' and 'more' near-perfect; if he is, I'd favor him. If he's more near-perfect, but only so-so near perfect, I'd favor George.

 

Totally agree Mac. I’ll add if I may that whenever Johnson did elect to give ground, it was only when Jeffries was fully tilted into Johnson, applying his greater weight (I think Jeff had near 20 lbs on Jack).

Otherwise, in terms of sheer, arm to arm strength, there are numerous examples of Johnson easily overpowering Jeffries - and early in the fight too, before any excuses re depleted stamina can be considered on Jeffries’ behalf.

 

Without resorting to Adam Pollack's excellent bio of Fitz I can find 3
Ed Dunkhorst 260lbs, a fat pudding used as a sparring partner by some.
Millard Zender 300lbs , having his one and only fight.
Charles Puff 230lbs ,having his one and only fight.
That's rather different to a 220lbs fit and muscled championship level fighter who probably hit as hard as anyone ever has .
imo.Jeffries was an attrition puncher who was prepared to take punishment from smaller man to come on later and wear them out.
Foreman was an ATG puncher, I don't see anyone scaling 185lbs taking flush shots from him and surviving.
Corbett never beat a 200lbs plus fighter who was anywhere near prime.
Tom Sharkey 5'8 1.2"" 178lbs walked through Corbett in their 2nd fight.and drew with him in their 1st, Foreman would annihilate him imo.

 

The threads live on forever, getting more and more off base the further it goes.

 

Funny stuff - but this is a more likely scenario, imo:

George Foreman vs José Roman | KNOCKOUT Boxing Fight Highlights | 4K Ultra HD (youtube.com)

 

Despite George’s knees quivering during instructions (his legs out of evidential camera shot frame of course) I think he can pull this one off.

After being obliterated, Corbett offers his trunks to Foreman as a “keepsake”.

Foreman politely declines the offer.

With that, Party Boy Jim rips off the trunks, pirouettes and then throws them out to the spectators - all of whom recoil in horror and duck for cover.

 

I feel people have this impression 45 rounders were a common thing when they were not. 4 rounders were much more common. Corbett himself went 61 rounds with Peter Jackson but that was not a normal thing.

Also I think the 45 round distance was a brief experiment from the early 20th century.

The matchup itself doesn't warrant discussion.

 

The distance would be irrelevant.

 

Corbett went 27 with Choynski, 61 with Jackson, 21 with Sullivan, and lost in the 23rd to Jeffries. He knew how to go rounds. The longest Foreman ever went was 12, and he was utterly gassed against the 5 and almost out from fatigue against Young.

 

Sure, but how on earth would Corbett be able to make it out of the first couple of rounds, against a big, aggressive, hard punching champion - who also happened to be one of the best at cutting off the ring?

If Foreman was told, that he would get a one-million-dollar bonus, if he got rid of Corbett inside the first two round... I would be surprised, if a prime Foreman couldn't do just that!

 

Foreman takes Corbett out in 30 seconds.

 

This fight will never go past round 1. Foreman takes his head clean off.

 

Just ask Roberto Davila, who went the full 8, Levi Forte, who went 10, Gregorio Peralta, who went 10, or Jimmy Young, who went 12. Even Ali had him gassed by covering up, grabbing, and sharpshooting here and there. Point is yes Foreman was a killer puncher and may very well have stopped Corbett, but nothing is a given in boxing, particularly against a defensive specialist. So IF George doesn’t get him out in the first 10 rounds, I think Corbett’s odds of success in a 45-round bout go up exponentially.

 

You think Corbett gets to those rounds ?

 

Does Foreman get a camp in which to work on the grappling techniques and styles of that era? He was strong, great at leverage, a great natural grappler for the eras in which he fought -- I assume given time to adapt, he'd be great at the early 1900s version of grappling. (side note, Ali was also a great natural grappler).

Otherwise he's in major trouble.