Which versions of Young Foreman could beat the Holyfield he later fought?

The minute anyone tagged Holy and it stung he'd start brawling. He'd try it with Foreman and he'd get stopped. 73-74 Foreman stops him

 

Idk, I don't see Holyfield walking away from this the winner, if he meets that 73 version.

 

The Foreman who beat Frazier and Norton could beat Holyfield, but it’s 50-50. George could land a huge combo that sends him down and that’s after multiple knockdowns, or Holyfield holds on, fights hard, and weathers the storm to stop him in 8 or 9. Likely with some headbutts and elbows mixed in. Either way this fight goes, both guys are hitting the canvas at different times and both will use some dirty tactics.

 

If Holyfield was able to box a smart fight and stick to a gameplan against Old Foreman, there’s no reason he can’t against a prime Foreman, the question is, would it see him to victory?

 

Too bad Holyfield is lacking in two out of three categories here (unless you count being a skilled cheat as smart).

Prime Foreman retires Holyfield, frankly.

 

I never said Holyfield couldn't come up with a plan to beat young Foreman.

I said if Holyfield abandons that plan and just brawls with the much bigger puncher, it won't end well for him. Holyfield admitted a fat ancient Foreman hit harder than anyone he fought, which is pretty eyebrow raising considering he fought in an era full of big modern heavies who do strength training and take supplements.

Young Foreman was 5x more aggressive and vicious than the much more patient and slower Old Foreman.

 

Holy had endurance. In fact, I think Foreman would be a bit daunted early on; most likely Holy would tie him up and frustrate his rushes.

The problem is, it wouldn't be long before Holy takes something George does personally and morphs into the Warrior. He couldn't trade with George, and unfortunately that's exactly what he'd macho out and try to do. The uppercut would devastate him.

 

Possibly either version that fought Frazier ....

 

Evander doesn’t need to go to toe to toe with Foreman? He did not go toe to toe with Tyson, he didn’t get mixed up trying to fight Bowe the second time… Holy gets caught up in the moment sometimes but he knew how to follow a plan, there’s a reason near all his opponents mutually call him the smartest guy they fought or the best. If Evander did get caught he’d do what he’s always done, bite down on the mouth guard n keep fighting… look at all the guys who tried to put him down 70s - George ain’t the guy to do it, his second incarnation hit Evander a helluva lot more sneaky then 70s George was capable of, it was barely a blip despite all the kind words and fuss.
Forgotten is Evander was very capable of staggering and rocking Foreman he did it many times in there 80d bout… 70s Foreman would be weaker then Evander, less capable of defending himself then 80s GF, less intelligent, a tense, green guy, with no rounds, a guy without a jab (despite the infamy) that is expect against the LHW Peralta LOL… GF couldn’t fight inside at all he looked lost there, once Evander got his shoulder into him he’d let GF stay on top of him just like with Mike and beat him up… Foreman would do what he always did and keep trying, unable to change the course. 70s GF’s only wins against heavyweight sized opponents were Lyle and Norton… comparing that to Evanders body of work?

 

Ken Norton said it best.

"A minute into the round he landed a clubbing right uppercut that shook my foundations. Sensing this, he attempted to pick up the attack when i retreated by getting out of the ropes and back out into the center of the ring. We began to trade jabs when he landed a jackhammer like left to my face. With time running out, Foreman pursued me with wild bombs until the bell ended round one. Even tho i knew Foreman's strategy was to come straight at me, his ferocity scared the living daylights out of me. I had just experienced three minutes of sheer terror."

Round 2 - "I threw and connected a fierce right uppercut that drew a major reaction from the crowd, but foreman kept coming at me, not even backing off for a second."

This is a guy not that far short of being a ATG and some do slip him into that bracket. Norton at this point had sparred Frazier (who went HARD in sparring) countless times, fought Ali twice in a row immediately before the Foreman challenge among other things. In the very first round he shared with Foreman he's had the living daylights scared out of him while experiencing three minutes of terror.

Before having his invincibility stripped away by Ali this is what being in there with peak Foreman was like. Holyfield simply isn't making it deep enough.

 

Norton also wrote that he hid in his hotel room the night he decisioned Tex Cobb and a drunk Tex was calling him out in the lobby for a street fight ... Ali survived the ferocity as did Jimmy Young ... the reality is styles and Norton lacked the chin , period ... Holyfield had an exceptional chin and took bombs from Tyson and Lewis, two monster punchers ... I think Holyfield had the speed and chin to defeat Foreman but could lose his head, slug and get beat too ... the interesting thing is that I think Norton might have beaten Holyfield , giving him the same hell he gave Ali and Holmes ..

 

I don't think any version does, his best chance was the chance he had...Holyfield fights at an intensity and pace Foreman never really could, if he could steam roll you he would but he isn't going 12 at Holyfields pace.

 

Kamikaze: there’s a reason near all his opponents mutually call him the smartest guy they fought or the best.
Also Kamikaze: " his second incarnation hit Evander a helluva lot more sneaky then 70s George was capable of, it was barely a blip despite all the kind words and fuss."
Apparently, testimonies only matter when they support fighters we like, but are otherwise useless when they're in support of fighters we have an agenda against.

You can't make this stuff up.

 

To be clear, while by no means a lock, I’d be willing to go out on a precarious limb and go as far back as the version of Foreman that beat Chuvalo as having a decent chance to beat Holyfield.

Of course that’s based on George seeing Holyfield off in 4-5 rounds otherwise Forman would likely be easy meat thereafter.

George looked to be tracking very well in terms of his development even by 1970 but then he took some technical steps backward in the intervening years through to Zaire - during which, he became very much enamoured with his huge punch and fast KOs.

His jab alone against Chuvalo was indeed awesome and very well worked.

Not to say that the singularly minded destroyer version of Foreman wouldn’t beat Holyfield, I think he would but he had let go of some crucial fundamentals that were already previously in hand.

Though still clearly damaging throughout the fight against Chuvalo, as compared to circa 73/74 Foreman, George was relatively patient and well metered against Chuvalo until he wobbled the Canadian which then saw Foreman go for broke for the brutal and deserved stoppage.