Why did young George Foreman look so big even at relatively low listed weights?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by MixedMartialLaw, Jun 21, 2026.


Page 1 of 5
  1. MixedMartialLaw

    MixedMartialLaw Combat sports enthusiast Full Member

    2,396
    3,818
    Jun 30, 2021
    Look at Foreman in his first fight with Frazier, the size of his frame, the muscles, the upper and lower body. Yet, he apparently only weighed in at 217.5 lbs for this fight, somehow only 3 lbs heavier than little Joe. He looks much bigger than Usyk who's usually ~10 lbs heavier than that.

    Why does the "eye test" say young Foreman was bigger than his listed weights?

    This content is protected
     
    MixedMartialLaw, Jun 21, 2026
    MixedMartialLaw, Jun 21, 2026
    #1
    Usyk is the best and robert ungurean like this.
  2. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

    114,868
    51,999
    Mar 21, 2007
    I'm not going to run for the quote but there are a couple of stories about Joe feeling unnaturally dense physically, that he was oak-like. Even in the thumbail in the OP you can see he has a big behind, he was sort of heavy for his size if that makes sense. One of the things that people find fascinating about the heavies is that they have these sort of anomalous feels and looks to their physicality, people like those stories.

    But the key to understanding Foreman's size is pretty straightforward because it belongs to Muhammad Ali.

    This content is protected


    These two look about the same size and were about the same size, but nobody thinks of Ali as a spooky giant. It's just reputationally and style, that's all. George Pimpton does a fine job of describing how diminished Foreman looked in size versus Muhammad Ali, but for all the good writing, they were the same size all along, and look it. During my favourite staredown of all time you can absolutely see it.
     
    McGrain, Jun 21, 2026
    McGrain, Jun 21, 2026
    #2
    Homericlegend03, Rubber Glove Sandwich, Smoochie and 7 others like this.
  3. dmt

    dmt Hardest hitting hw ever Full Member

    13,352
    20,893
    Jul 2, 2006
    Foreman looked big because he had a thick bone structure. He could have comfortably carried 230 lbs in his prime. He was also closer to 6'4 than 6'3 so his height also made him look big.
     
    dmt, Jun 21, 2026
    dmt, Jun 21, 2026
    #3
    Homericlegend03, Smoochie, Terror and 2 others like this.
  4. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member

    66,863
    87,895
    Aug 21, 2012
    Because he was a big dude. Usyk is a big dude. The fly in the ointment is that nowadays we have even bigger guys routinely fighting at the top levels.
     
    BCS8, Jun 21, 2026
    BCS8, Jun 21, 2026
    #4
    Homericlegend03, Rubber Glove Sandwich, Smoochie and 4 others like this.
  5. Saintpat

    Saintpat Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    24,665
    29,424
    Jun 26, 2009
    George had a large frame, large bones and ridiculous bone density.

    His fists were the size of canned hams. One of his latter-career fights, HBO showed him getting gloved up in the dressing room and it took two grown men tugging mightily to stretch a glove over his fist.
     
    Saintpat, Jun 21, 2026
    Saintpat, Jun 21, 2026
    #5
    Smoochie, Terror, MaccaveliMacc and 5 others like this.
  6. ikrasevic

    ikrasevic War for Souls Full Member

    9,307
    9,737
    Nov 3, 2021
    This content is protected

    Specifically because of this; Norton is built like Atlas and is the same height as Foreman, but George is obviously "Big". Watch the whole fight; Foreman LOOKS taller and he isn't, but he is bigger.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2026
    ikrasevic, Jun 21, 2026
    ikrasevic, Jun 21, 2026
    #6
    Homericlegend03, MaccaveliMacc and robert ungurean like this.
  7. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

    66,360
    53,920
    Feb 11, 2005
    He'd be the smallest guy in the Top Ten today, roughly the same size but a little lighter than Usyk.

    We live in the best of all possible times for heavyweight boxing.
     
    Seamus, Jun 21, 2026
    Seamus, Jun 21, 2026
    #7
    Homericlegend03, Boxed Ears and Pat M like this.
  8. dmt

    dmt Hardest hitting hw ever Full Member

    13,352
    20,893
    Jul 2, 2006

    :lol:

    When a dude like Chisora who has lost virtually every big fight he has ever been in, is still hovering around the top 10, we absolutely do not live in the best era for heavyweight boxing.

    We live in an era where the champions have no interest in defending their titles consistently.

    We live in an era where half of the top guys are carrying unnecessary weight which slows them down and makes them worse fighters (Parker, Zhang, Bakole, Fury etc. are all carrying absurd amounts of unnecessary weight).

    It wouldn't matter if Foreman would be the "smallest" guy today. He would ko every single guy in the top 10, and that too with relative ease.
     
    dmt, Jun 21, 2026
    dmt, Jun 21, 2026
    #8
    Smoochie, SteStevo66, Rubber Glove Sandwich and 11 others like this.
  9. ikrasevic

    ikrasevic War for Souls Full Member

    9,307
    9,737
    Nov 3, 2021
    You forgot the former champion Andy Ruiz Jr.
     
    ikrasevic, Jun 21, 2026
    ikrasevic, Jun 21, 2026
    #9
    dmt likes this.
  10. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

    6,764
    10,145
    Oct 22, 2015
    No we don't.
     
    Flash24, Jun 21, 2026
    Flash24, Jun 21, 2026
    #10
    Smoochie, roughdiamond, Man_Machine and 3 others like this.
  11. SouthpawsRule

    SouthpawsRule Well-Known Member banned Full Member

    1,544
    1,974
    Jul 2, 2025
    He was relatively light for his physical frame.
     
    SouthpawsRule, Jun 21, 2026
    SouthpawsRule, Jun 21, 2026
    #11
  12. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

    66,360
    53,920
    Feb 11, 2005
    Outside of the 90's and its free-flowing roids, we in fact do. Look at the size and power the top ten. No breadliners, shoemakers or wharfbrawlers here. All studs.
     
    Seamus, Jun 21, 2026
    Seamus, Jun 21, 2026
    #12
    Homericlegend03 likes this.
  13. George Crowcroft

    George Crowcroft He Who Saw The Deep Full Member

    27,738
    46,680
    Mar 3, 2019
    The heavyweight division is likely at the worst it's been this century, let alone ever.
     
    George Crowcroft, Jun 21, 2026
    George Crowcroft, Jun 21, 2026
    #13
    Smoochie, Claude, roughdiamond and 6 others like this.
  14. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

    66,360
    53,920
    Feb 11, 2005
    It's the best I've witnessed in my 78 years. We got real athletes up in there.
     
    Seamus, Jun 21, 2026
    Seamus, Jun 21, 2026
    #14
  15. Ioakeim Tzortzakis

    Ioakeim Tzortzakis "The David Haye of Loma's Gay" -Edgar Allan Poe Full Member

    2,108
    7,416
    Aug 27, 2020
    Too bad half of them can't fight for ****.
     
    Ioakeim Tzortzakis, Jun 21, 2026
    Ioakeim Tzortzakis, Jun 21, 2026
    #15
    Smoochie, Rubber Glove Sandwich, Claude and 2 others like this.
Page 1 of 5