Who did Foreman say hit him hardest?

I heard him say Cooney as well.

Gil Clancy helped train Cooney for his fight against Foreman, and claimed Cooney was good going into that fight. He said he considered it the first win over a quality heavyweight in George's 2nd career.

 

The problem is, Foreman will say it was Joe Frazier for a Joe Frazier DVD and Shannon Briggs for a Lennox Lewis DVD. The man is not a reliable source; I'm not saying he's a liar, but he changes his stories quickly.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he said that Ali was the hardest puncher he ever faced. Foreman could say anything and I wouldn't be shocked.

 

On camera, he's said that Ron Lyle hit him the hardest of anybody he faced in his career, but I don't know whether or not he made that comment before facing Cooney.

Not long after facing Cooney, Holmes said he really couldn't gage Gerry's power, because he lacked the speed necessary to catch Holmes flush like Shavers did. This would also apply to Ali's match with Cleveland Williams. Allegedly, he was a harder puncher than Liston, but he only landed six punches on Muhammad. The specific question isn't who was the hardest hitter these boxers fought against, but rather, who actually hit them the hardest. (It doesn't matter how hard the punch is, if it fails to connect. Cuevas might have been a harder puncher than Hearns, but Tommy was able to land where Pipino couldn't get close enough to.)

 

Agreed, Foreman is so out there with his comments.

Before Lewis beats Tyson in a Sports Illustrated article:

"He'd last two rounds with me in my prime"

After Lewis beat Tyson, in England:

"Lewis is the greatest heavyweight ever".

 

To go off topic for a moment, I never quite understood why Holmes said " Shavers hit me harder than Tyson " or something to that effect. If Shavers hit him harder, then how come he kept falling like a sack of rocks when Tyson connected?

 

He also claimed Riddick Bowe- guilty of the most overt ducking since Patterson ducked Liston- had the biggest heart of all time along with Ali. Chicken Bowe, of all people.

 

Mike had the speed necessary to catch a rusty Holmes. Shavers landed one huge bomb on a peak conditioned 209 pound Holmes. If Tyson was in there then, instead of Earnie, he too would have been hard pressed to connect frequently enough to stop Larry. (Unlike Foreman, it's my understanding that Holmes has always been consistent in his answers about competitive experiences.)

 

Who knows with what comes out of Foreman's mouth...

but I've heard him say Lyle hit him the hardest before

 

my guess would be colesterol....

 

During that fight though (Golota rematch), Bowe showed a ton of heart. I think Lampley was a little annoyed when he asked George "what makes you say that?" Like, "what is this weirdo talking about this time?"

My favorite Foreman comment is probably:

"No one is pound for pound the best until they beat James Page"

 

His mother...........

 

Holmes never got stopped in any fight following the Tyson fight, so obviously age hadn't been too unkind to his ability to take a punch.

And you can say " Tyson would have a harder time catching a peak Holmes " but nevertheless he did catch a past-his-best Holmes, and Holmes did indeed fall down like someone sawed him off at the shins. I just have a difficult time believing that Shavers hit him harder than Tyson when Tyson is the one who was knocking him around like a rag-doll.

 

Ali :yep

 

Even Tyson and Golota showed heart at times, but no-one is going to claim they had balls of steel.