Could George Foreman make it undefeated through Larry Holmes title opponents?

A bit rusty on my knowledge these days mate and I only got back into the history, when my lad starting boxing at the Solly Club in Lpool city centre (where David 'Glass Ear' Price used to go). But getting there...

Sal's a good lad, one of the Class of 04. Just don't mention "Where's the Alpo?" to him.

 

No

 

Yes he could as @My dinner with Conteh pointed out Frazier was out of shape vs Foreman and not the force he once was a few years ago.

When Holmes fought Norton his only real notable opponent prior to that was Shavers and he had a bicep injury vs Norton. Whilst I have questioned in the past how much it did hinder Holmes because I didn't see any real evidence of it in the fight with Norton. But i still think Holmes being a champion vs Norton in 73 ? He would probably be more confident and in a better mindset.

Infact I think Holmes could actually end up with more wins than Foreman did in the 70s overall. I think a peak Holmes would beat 1974 version Ali I also think Holmes would beat Jimmy Young aswell.

Obviously Holmes wouldn't beat Norton or Frazier as easily as Foreman did but I still think Holmes could beat both especially the out of shape version of Frazier. I remember Bugner wobbling Frazier a few times with right hands I think Holmes could definitely trouble a post FOTC Frazier with right hands aswell.

 

Foreman did so little in 1973 that in five literal minutes he produced a more memorable result than Holmes’ entire title reign. Fact.

 

I didn’t mention Roman because he’s a threat - obviously, he isn’t. He’s listed here because he’s part of Foreman’s title run. Just like you’re listing a dozen men who would be lucky to see a second or third round with Foreman.

 

Anything could happen, & it’s not an unreasonable proposition that a peak Holmes could beat that Frazier, prime Norton & 1974 Ali. Very possible he wouldn’t, but it’s plausible.

The only extremism here is coming from those on the lunatic fringe arguing Foreman couldn’t beat Holmes’ garbage pile of defenses.

 

I feel like he could, Foreman went downhill due to the confidence loss from the Ali fight, Holmes never fought anyone as good as that version of Ali, and if he did, he could very well have lost and had the same confidence loss Foreman did.
So Foreman may have kept his winning streak going in Holmes’ era considering there was no-one as good as that version of Ali.

 

Under isolated circumstances I would pick Foreman to beat all of Holmes’ title fight opponents. But the real question is, could George stay focused through 7 calendar years and 20 title fights ? I’m not so sure

 

Excellent post ... did Foreman version 1 have the maturity and focus ? Could be !

 

No ****. Someone finally gets the incredibly obvious.

 

I don't agree Foreman in 70s lost convincingly to Jimmy Young, went life and death with Ron Lyle. And in actual real time only managed 5 title defences across his whole career. There's nothing to suggest Foreman could consistently beat top 10 ranked fighters and be consistent for 7 years without losing a single world title fight.

 

How about the mediocrity of most of the ranked opposition you keep talking about & the fact Foreman is frequently cited as a top 3-5 all-time Heavy?

 

Holmes failed to convincingly beat, & arguably lost to, Witherspoon, Weaver & Williams. I guess he shouldn’t have been able to go on a run by your logic either, yet here he is.

 

Because as I keep saying Foreman only defended the world title 5 times across his whole career which is 1/4 of what Holmes achieved in a 7 year period.

So you're making a fantasy assumption that Foreman can go on a run of 20 title defenses when he could only achieve 1/4 of that in his actual career doesn't really make sense to me.

 

Holmes still never lost in his prime where as Foreman lost convincingly twice before the age of 30. So it seems baffling to me you think Foreman could fight until his mid 30s fighting consistently against ranked opponents and not pick up a loss somewhere. Especially since Foreman was not consistent in his actual career holding on to a belt.