How Would A Young Foreman Have Done In The 1990s?

For the first 3 years of the 90s... going off the Ring Rankings he'd be having a hard time of building a legit career, red are losses or highly risky, white decent odds of winning/losing and green are guy's i think he'd likely beat.

1990

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Razor Ruddock
James (Buster) Douglas (Cashed out)

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Old George Foreman (DQ'd by Fergy)

1991

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George Foreman (Dq)

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1992

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(Decent odds of badly hurting Foreman but probably losses, punchers chance)
Alex Garcia (Never watched this guy)

it gets even WORSE when you factor in how much worse people believe he got after his first loss, Tyson and Holyfield in this scenario are destined to fight him in 91 as decreed by the OP. How should he navigate this if he had to fight ranked guys like a real contender? If he had to fight 2-3 of these guys a year... he'd never really get his career going. What do you think of this 3 year span if he had to pick 2 names a year?

 

Tyson by KO

 

I doubt he'd even be a contender by 98 but if he was looking his worst shape which was probably against Lyle? (I don't think he personally looked that bad but I digress) if he was aging and a few notches below a guy struggling so badly with Lyle at this point...

1998

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(Uses him as a keep busy fight?)

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Golota is an interesting one. He went the distance with TRex and Witherspoon in 98, but went on to quit when Grant dragged him into a war.

I’d have to favor Foreman over Briggs and Golota unless he were showing up to fights looking like 2010s Sam Peter by that point.

 

Do you think Old Foreman would take it? If Young Foreman got really hyped and then totally taken apart by one of the division’s elite, Old Foreman might like the risk:reward there, but I imagine it would be a mistake.

 

Nope, not allowed we don't get GF vs GF by royal decree of the OP. I think if he's forced to fight 2 ranked ring guys a year he winds up with like a 45-13 record lol key wins are probably... Fat Riddick Bowe (If he isn't outlasted) Tommy Morrison, Razor Ruddock x1? some south african guys... Frank Bruno... I can't factor in the damage he'd take honestly and not see him being steam rolled multiple times around 94-ish.

 

Well in 98 he'd be shot after a career in the 90s meat grinder don't you think? that's providing he fight's 2 real contenders a year. The worst version of Foreman is the guy who was almost losing to Lyle apparently so someone a few notches below that probably get's hammered by Tua.

 

I think to answer the question @Fergy I think he does badly, starts strong and fades down the stretch because of his style, longevity and mindset issues. Just my 0.2$ like Jimmy Young he might have a meteoric couple of years but be an opponent type by the end the 90s were a war zone and 10 years of fighting contenders... that's too tall an ask for a seek and destroy type as barbaric as Big George.

 

2 contenders per year isn't realistic. Holyfield and to a lesser extent Lewis were the only two to really approach that. The B/C tier guys who were around in 1990 were washed up or retired by the late 90s, and generally weren't fighting two contenders per year even at their best. Mercer is probably the only one to last the entire decade and his resume is still pretty sparse.

 

But wouldn't someone they say would "dominate" the 90s be fighting at least 2 a year? I know it's not realistic for regular guys but if he's "the man" of the era...

 

Well yeah, it might be a relevant schedule if he were dominating. I’m pretty sure he’d spend multiple stretches in the 90s rebuilding and hoping to land a fight at a higher pay grade against a more highly regarded fighter.

 

If you had to pick a fighter in the 90s to best represent his career path (being realistic) who do you think it'd be? I saw you pick Ruddock - I agree with that, just instead it'd be Holyfield giving him his first loss. I'd say it is Old Foreman funnily enough? anybody else really?

 

Yeah, Ruddock or Old Foreman. Michael Grant is also fine.

 

Of course, Big George is not going to dominate the whole 90s decade.
But he could well dominate the first half.

I am sticking to my chosen 1990 -1995 timeframe, where Big George would be at his prime and other than Holyroid, Bowe and maybe Lewis, I don't see who else could seriously challenge his dominance.

In this mainframe, if Big George doesn't retire at the end of 1995 and goes into a spiritual journey looking for the holy grill, then he gradually loses his edge and eventually starts raking losses. By the end of the decade, he is a weary faded old glory: Sometime around 98 – 00 he is beaten badly, probably by one of the Klitchkos, or maybe Briggs, and retires.

 

And if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle.