Funny thing but because of the Frazier fight everyone thinks Big George would dominate every small man he faced but I remeber seeing him having a tough time with some smaller men and none of them were great fighters 6" Levi Forte, the often Ko'd Forte went 10 with Forem early in his career 6" Gregorio Peralta, the former lightheavyweight gave Foreman hands full and was never off his feet 5"11 Big Foot Martin 5"5 1/2 Dwight Quawi all of these fighters were resistant to George's power and the past prime D.Q. landed well against Big George in his comeback
Qawi wouldn't have stood a chance against a prime Foreman but I do think that the likes of Jersey Joe Walcott, Gene Tunney, Ezzard Charles could have given Foreman headaches like Peralta and Young did. It's all about the styles match-up. Being a smaller man and going straight at Foreman isn't going to end well. Being a smaller man and using your quickness to outbox Foreman potentially could. Of course nothing is a given with Foreman's strength/power.
Forte met Foreman in George's 6th pro fight ,Forte was 6'1''200lbs ,not exactly small.Foreman dropped him in the 2nd Martin was 1/2 inch under 6 foot 228lbs he was 25 when he fought Foreman ,George dropped him in the 8th Nine years later at the age of 35 ,Martin went the distance with Wlad. Qawi was only stopped by Holyfield and Foreman , and Evander was prime whereas George was nearly 39.
Everett Martin was a fat light-heavyweight. He wasn't good. He didn't even bother to train for fights, yet somehow went the distance with all those big bad heavyweights !
Martin was for the most part more of a professional sparring partner. Perhaps he was used as a "work" opponent in a lot of his fights. He was one of Tysons main sparring partners, so he learned how to be a survivor but perennial loser.
I thought Peralta was significantly taller than that. I actually thought he was about George's height. I know he was a light heavy moving up but I thought he was a pretty tall man.
You took the words right off my keyboard my old friend.. I will also ad that Gregorio Peralta was a veteran of 90 fights, when George had perhaps 15 bouts. It should also be noted that Peralta was only stopped on 3 occasions in 116 matches, and incidentally, one of those stoppages came from Foreman in their rematch.. He was also 6'0" and nearly 200Lbs... Doesn't really bolster much of an argument for claiming that Foreman struggled with a much smaller and fragile opponent....Other than that, I think we can close this thread. Making selective observations by using fights that took place either in the developmental phases of a guy's career, or on the opposite end of the spectrum when he was in his 40's, doesn't do much to sell me on this issue
I think what Bummy Davis is pointing out is that Foreman didn't have an easier time with smaller fighters than he did with larger ones.
He rarely if ever fought to win.... That's why.. He had a very sturdy chin, and employed a lot of lingering tactics on the inside that made him difficult to land flush on.. Trainers and mangers liked Big Foot Martin because he provided their fighters with good exercise, without a huge risk... He was also usually available, even on short notice and didn't cost much. He did however have a few big moments.. He gave Moorer some problems back in 92', and even upset both Tim Witherspoon and Bert Cooper..
Foreman fought Forte and Peralta early on,and Big Foot Martin when he came back,as you said. A PRIME Foreman would beat all of them easily. Maybe Peralta would still have caused problems,but George beat him quite handily in their second fight.
This gets to the crux of things. it wasnt so much that Foreman's victims ie Frazier were small ,as the fact that they swarmed him ,suicide against a big heavy handed bomber. Small to average sized heavies ,who possessed good footspeed and boxing ability would allways pose problems for George,the guys you mentioned especially.