Is Foreman’s “masterful ring cutting ability” a myth?

No, he doesn't.

 

You must be great fun at dinner parties.

 

He's not even top 20

 

I'm the life of parties

 

You and your obsession with Joshua ................ Something something boxing evolution

 

Why don't you tell us how hard it is to win the World/lineal Heavyweight title 20 years apart?

How many people have ever done that? What is the second biggest gap?

I'm going to guess a lot more guys have had lengthy reigns than won it 20 years apart hence it being more "rare" than long reigns??????

 

The premise that it being rare makes it more difficult is false, particularly when it involves three unearned title shots and the name Michael Moorer.

 

Neither him nor Tyson Fury.

Foreman didn't exactly float like a butterfly. That's all he did was come forward, in essence cutting off the ring.

 

Personally I see Jimmy Young beating George Foreman the same way I see Kirkland Laing beating Roberto Duràn.
Foreman like Duràn was still suffering from a loss to an ATG and a hated rival in a devastating way. ( Foreman K'oed by Ali, Duràn frustrated and quit against Leonard)
And it took them awhile to really get back on track. In Foreman's case almost ten years.
It doesn't mean Young or Laing would've survived Foreman or Duràn at their best.
They wouldn't have.
Foreman gets a lot of hate from some on this site, and they scrutinize every perceived flaw they think they see, to hype up Usyk and others of this era.
Personally the lack of skills today, especially at heavyweight, a prime Foreman would've ran all of them out the ring.

 

Someone's jealous

 

I had Foreman probably in the 6-10 range before.

 

Im a massive Foreman fan but on most days he doesn't make my top ten. Head to head he might, might...

 

He's pretty good at it overall but he really only nails one half of ring cutting. From a footwork perspective, there's stuff there as he doesn't make the dire mistake of pivoting with people but he also doesn't have much agility, ability to change direction or foot speed so he struggles a little bit with that aspect. He also doesn't have the type of methodical process of cutting down the space behind a guy like you'd see from genuinely brilliant ring cutters at lower weights.

But ring cutting isn't all about footwork, a lot of it is throwing the right things at the right time and being a physical presence. Foreman's nails this; he'll hook to the body as they turn, shove people back, stand in punching range while they want to adjust, which creates panic and he's also super wide and throws wide from both sides. Moving away from foreman, even if you're step ahead and winning, still seems absolutely horrible.

I think Foreman is better putting guys on the ropes who want to be moving forward than is at cutting the ring down against movers. I imagine Ali probably thought he'd be moving more than he did, but I don't think the Ali fight is proof of Foreman's 'mythical ring cutting'. But then, I also don't really think the Young fight is the black mark which the usual group on here make it out to be. Young was a very good fighter and Foreman wasn't in the best headspace. Sure, don't ignore it when looking at him stylistically, but I don't think the Foreman from a few years earlier loses as clearly - and even if he does lose, Young was pretty damn good at defusing huge, aggressive punchers.

 

Yes.

Not in the title fights, which is the most important thing.

Over Tyson, yes, not over Wlad, looking at the fact he didn't fight for 10 years.

Not in the title fights, which is the most important thing.

Way more title defences, better record in title fights, better KO% in title fights, way more Top 10 guys beaten. Foreman only has better top wins, that's it.