Could he have fought into his 50's? He was 48, I believe, when he fought Briggs. Most tend to feel Foreman won that fight as well. Realistically what could have Foreman accomplished after that? It almost seemed like he wasn't going to degrade anymore... For a while anyway. What fighters would have been made to order for him post Briggs?
Foreman did the right thing, although he rather smartly found a way to fight in his 40s, I just do not see how he could of continued doing that post Briggs. Foreman was smart, and left the sport a morale if not literal winner of his last fight. Foreman was degrading, remember that was not a near prime Holyfield or Moorer in the other corner, but an over hyped Briggs*. *I was for the record sucked into the pre Wilson, Briggs hype.
He could have easily continued fighting men on the level of Crawford Grimsley well into his 50's, but his days of threatening titlists were over.
Briggs was super dangerous though, he gave Lewis a scare. But given Foremans physical strength, and chin Briggs was fighting a very uphill battle. Foreman left at the right time, but a fight with a very young Wlad could see George being the victor if Wlad pulls a Purrity on him. BTW, does anyone remember when Foreman said he was coming back if Vitali beat Lennox haha?
In my book Saveresse edged Foreman but the judges went for the popular cash cow. I think Foreman was pretty much done when he was mixing with the Alex Shultz's of boxing. I do not think he could have fought vs top 15-30ish ranked guys for much longer.
Oh come on, that is actually an insult, for starters I would be pick-em against Audley at the moment!
I thought Foreman looked very good against Shannon Briggs. I mean, for all of Briggs' faults and shortcomings, he was still a dangerous fighter. He was big, strong, fast, and had a decent set of skills. He wasn't a stiff by any stretch. And Foreman controlled most of that fight. The Foreman that fought Briggs could have given a lot of other heavyweights a good fight. As for how long? Who knows! Maybe a couple more years or so.
