George Foreman versus three heavy hitters

RANDOM BUM FOREMAN SOLOS
RANDOM BUM FOREMAN SOLOS
Eh idk probably Liston. Id give the odds abt 6.5:3.5

 

Baer will get hurt the worst. He doesn’t have the leverage to work any kind of reach, & can take a beating. He will. Foreman savages him.

Firpo has some height & range, which isn’t Foreman’s best type of opponent…but for all his exceptional heart, Dempsey’s power proved thunderously disruptive to Firpo. Foreman does fight differently, but is no less intense. I think he knocks out Firpo but will have a fight on his hands while it lasts.

I marginally favour Liston, he makes a good deal fewer mistakes. Still, his more measured style could put him in big danger against the more reckless, but more explosive, Foreman.

 

Baer-Foreman would be like a shorter version of Lyle-Foreman. Baer certainly has the power to hurt George, and I think Maxie's unpredictability is often overlooked in such matchups. That said, he won't win a firefight against a better version of himself in Foreman.

Firpo dies.

Liston wins, better technician and will exploit Foreman's fundamental flaws worse than any puncher ever has.

 

In a sense, I would agree. Depends what you mean by roughest. He’s at more risk (substantially) vs Liston, but Firpo might give him Lyle flashbacks for however long it lasts.

 

Seems like you think more highly of Firpo than I do, cuz I don't really see how. Firpo was the least impressive out of the bunch by a good few miles and was basically a Rickard-built hype job; portrayed as being far, far more than what he really was. I've read Rickard actually imported Firpo from Argentina and fed him a string of nobodies and well known has-beens like Brennan and Willard to bolster him as some worthwhile contender.

 

I’m in the middle on it. Don’t think he’d be a nightmare for Foreman, but he was wild, energetic, could hit like a mule & had Balboa-level guts. He’s not as measured as Liston or Baer, & coupled with his size, I can see him making Foreman work.

 

I'd narrowly favor Liston and Foreman belts the other two.

 

Knocks the first 2 out not sure about Liston, big George always said Liston gave him trouble in sparring. Good to see Foreman calling the crappy 2024 Olympics out for another shoddy showing for boxing in the olympics this year:

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Firpo was trickier than the Dempsey film makes it appear at first glance. What Luis repeatedly did in that one was take a step back, then unload that right. Jack ducked under it, but George wouldn't. Foreman would need to get him out fairly quickly, but this could be a firefight, and Foreman had more weapons at his disposal, aside from stamina. But Firpo did have the height and reach to nail him with that right.

Max Baer would outsmart and outlast Foreman. He spent much of Carnera rapidly skipping backwards. With Pat Comiskey, he was slowly retreating into a corner, then abruptly ducked and unloaded that long overhand right. The Larruper was no Ken Norton or stature deprived post FOTC Frazier. George would cut the ring off on Maxie, Maxie would let him do so, then make him pay with his firepower.

If this goes past five rounds, Foreman is really dead.


Liston was simply a better boxer who Chuck Wepner rated as a far harder puncher than George. It's Foreman who would be forced to give ground to Sonny's jab while absorbing body shots. When trading punches, Liston's long straight punching prevails over George's looping blows. An exhausted Foreman probably goes around round seven.


The seemingly crude and one dimensional Firpo would be the most likely for George to defeat, but again, Foreman has to get him out fairly quickly. Luis was bloodied by a deep gash over his right eye from a fifth round Brennan counter attack, but the Argentine battled through and knocked out KO Bill in 12. In his second bout after Dempsey, Luis stopped Spalla in 14 rounds. He decisioned another guy over the Championship Distance. George obviously can't let this go beyond five or six rounds. Only two ever decked the steel chinned Willard, and Firpo needed a lot of rounds and right hands to drop Jess for the count. He never gassed.

So you have two guys in Firpo and Maxie who could give ground and make Foreman pay for trying to take it. The, you have a guy who can forced George to give ground.

 

What kind of odds do you give Foreman vs Liston? I’d make it about 55-45 in Liston’s favour.

 

Probably 65-35. Foreman did utilize angles on Peralta and Chuvalo, so he could outmaneuver Sonny, and I think he'd have to. That to me is his best chance, to nail Liston from a position Sonny isn't facing.