Vitali Klitschko vs George Foreman

Foreman via stoppage in rounds 5-8.

 

Foreman never proved he could beat a skilled boxer with a decent jaw. Vitali has all the characteristics that bother Foreman stylistically:

-Foreman can't bull him around or intimidate him; in fact, Vitali is the bigger man here
-Klitschko has an iron chin
-Klitschko is pretty hard to hit because of his combination of size, awkwardness and speed.
-The workrate of Vitali (~70 punches a round) will make sure that Foreman has to fight hard and can't pace himself.


The only way i can see Foreman winning if he gets the big Ukrainian out of there inside 5 rounds, after that he runs out of gas. But i think Klitschko will prove to have a combination of durability, defence and return-fire that will see him make it to the mid/late rounds of the fight where he will take complete control by stopping Big George.

 

I hate to admit it, but this is kind of how I see things unfolding too.

 

Micheal Moorer was prime and while I agree that Frazier was slipping, I stand by my ascertion that he was not far removed from peak. Why? Most historians and experts will tell you that his best performance was FOTC. When Joe fought Foreman, he was 29 years of age, had never lost and was less than two years removed from his best fight. If you try and tell me that the FOTC took too much out of him, then I ask you to explain how he nearly duplicated the feat in Manilla 4 years later, in a match that I personally feel ( as well as others ), was equally as grueling. Watch it sometime if you haven't..

I'll compromise by saying that Frazier was slipping. He was about 8 or 9 lbs over his best weight, not fighting as active and spending time playing in some band he was in rather than focussing 100 percent on boxing.

But completely shot? No dice........

 

This has my vote.

 

I'd say that the next part that followed was equally important considering that it addressed styles, physical differences, and the fact that Vitali was told 1 week prior to the Lewis fight that he was meeting the champ and not a fringe contender....... You have to look at the WHOLE picture suzie.....

Lewis was behind on the cards, had taken some hard shots and was fading badly in that fight Suzie. Max Kellerman commented once that he had never seen Lewis flop down in his corner stool like that in his whole career.

To clearify, I think it was a good call on the part of the doctor to stop the fight. That cut was ugly and in boxing, you never know when one more punch is going to be too many. Klitschko may have lost vision in that eye. But, as for your comment about him being " well on his way to another quit job, " he sure as hell did not give me that impression when he found out that the match had been stopped... Lastly, I also fail to see how Vitali's fight with Lewis has anything to do with what would happen in a Klitschko - Foreman fight. There is far more to consider here than just the fact that Foreman hit hard and had easily beaten Joe Frazier. Foreman had nothing in common with Lennox Lewis.

 

Vitali in 10

However i do rate Vitali alot higher than everyone else.

 

Vitali by UD. I don't think Foreman would be able to handle the jabbing and power of Vitali, but I don't think Vitali can KO Foreman. The Rumble in the Jungle Foreman might gas and be stopped, but by that same token Foreman has serious power and punching prowess and may stop Vitali, but I doubt it. I think prime Vitali would utterly massacre comeback George.

 

Vitali is not skilled. Wlad? Yes

Vitali never proved he could beat a Prime ATG heavyweight. I would go as far to say vitali is the most unproven highly rated fighter of all time.

No but Foreman can put on the kind of hurt that would make Vitali want to quit on his stool

but not an iron heart

I can see your point about ackwardness, but he does not have good speed. certainly not compared to Wlad. Even so, Corrie Sanders a fat 39 year old out of shape golfer had no trouble finding him early, I expect Foreman will find him early too. Also Vitali kept his left hand very low by his waist, Foreman is going to wail on him with that right hand over the top. Vitali tries to be cute by leaning back, but he doesnt have the athleticism speed or talent to do so against an elite prime fighter.

Sure, but once foreman unleashes some bonecrushing shots vitalis workrate is going to slow down, especially if vitali slugs it out early with george which he will

Which is highly probable. I could also see a case of Vitali quitting late in the fight.

 

Lennox in an interview said he found out Vitali was his opponent around a week before but later heard Vitali's team did a deal with Johnson to step aside, paying him and promising him a title shot if/when Vitali won. Either way both were preparing for fights

Lennox was the 1 out of shape and old, Vitali was in shape, so obviously Vitali was better prepared

 

Kirk johnson was a fat 260lb beached whale when he got in the ring vs Vitali, he was literally 25lb overweight. Larry Merchant said it right "He just harpooned the whale". Johnson was in no condition to fight, I remember watching his fight with ruiz...johnson weighed in 235lb vs ruiz and still lost(****in headbutts) so he wasnt that good anyway....His best win was his knockout over Maskaev.

 

Didn't Vitali test positive for steroids in 1996 which banned him from olympics? I believe this is asterisk worthy....

 

Lewis took shots from Bruno, Briggs, Tua, and others. His chin was not that bad. The cut changed things, and Vitlai really wasn't ready for this fight because he took in on less than 2 weeks notice.

The cut happend in round three, not round two.

No--Vitlai was not tired after the 6th. We all saw how much energy he had left once he learned the fight was stopped. Lewis was the more tired of the two and shot his load going for the Ko. After round six ended Lewis crashed down on his stool. Luck had nothing to do with Vitali being up 4-2 all on cards. It was skill. The cut was more of a fluke than the fight was.

Fans need to get real. Foreman was a big puncher. He could scare lesser smaller heavies, and took a good shot. But he looked like crap vs Ali, Lyle and Young. Why? Maybe because these guys were good out fighters. Styles make fight here and Foreman is at a disavantage.

Vitali has the skill, the chin, the height, the weight, the smarts, the stamina, the foot speed, the ability to win by boxing, or brawling, the countering ability, and pretty much everything over Foreman, except for pure power. The longer the fight goes, the better for vitlai, and IMO Lewis his just as hard as Foreman did, but unlike Foreman kept his power in the mid to later rounds.

Foreman didn't Ko everyone either. In fact he took guys like Parelta ( spelling ) the distance.

 

One of the punches George sometimes used was the strong left jab to the heart and Vitali's chest would be there to be hit.

Rough, tough fight with Foreman slamming home some uppercuts in Rd. 5 for TKO over Vitali.

 

I know I'm in the minority here, but I really think that the majority of the forum is really selling Vitali Klitschko Short by presuming that Foreman would end this thing in 5 rounds. The irony of the situation is that I'M THE ONE who is usually defending the hell out of George Foreman against everyone else.......