Prime Bob Foster vs Prime Lennox Lewis

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by blackhercules, Jan 1, 2017.


  1. blackhercules

    blackhercules Active Member banned Full Member

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    Bob Foster would win by first round KO since we all know only skills matter in boxing not weight classes. You know that is why 170 pound guys like Gene Tunney could beat Lewis, Tyson, Foreman, either Klitschko brother in the same night.

    Sure Bob Foster got destroyed by 205 pound Joe Frazier and also got destroyed by every other heavyweight he fought but who cares. He still would of won because of his skill.

    But in reality Bob Foster was a great light heavyweight who could punch but being a big puncher at 175 doesn't equate to being a hard enough puncher to knock out a modern size heavyweight or even a smaller modern sized heavyweight like Frazier. No matter how skilled he was it couldn't keep Frazier at bay and it couldn't keep any other real modern sized 205 plus pound heavyweight a bay.
     
  2. Perry

    Perry Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Foster lost to every hwt he ever faced. He did not have the mobility not physical strength to handle hwts.....any hwt.

    Tunney beat every hwt he ever faced and won the worlds hwt championship. Plus he is regarded to this very day as one of if not the best technical fighter ever as hwt champion.

    Huge difference. Try to understand and learn.
     
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  3. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    Lewis by ko.

    Foster lost every time he faced a ranked HW fighter.
     
  4. blackhercules

    blackhercules Active Member banned Full Member

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    Lol I know that. He even got knocked out by Bob Hazleton, of course he was past him prime. But so many people here love to compare 170 pound light heavyweights like Gene Tunney to modern sized heavyweights. Bob Foster is considered one of the best and hardest punching 175 pound fighters even but he always got knocked out when he stepped up to fight heavyweights and even some cruiserweights. But Gene Tunney who was smaller, much less skilled and never fought a guy over 190 could apparently beat Lewis, Foreman, Bowe, Tyson, Tua, either Klitschko despite the fact Gene wasn't a heavyweight or even fought any modern sized heavyweights.
     
  5. Perry

    Perry Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    You are completely missing the point. Tunney proved he could beat hwts. Every hwt beat Foster. Also styles make fights. Tunneys skill and style allowed him to beat hellacious hwt punchers like Dempsey. Foster more than likely would lose to all the hwts Tunney best.
     
  6. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    Tunney is better than Foster in my book anyways.

    The point is these things are always case by case.

    Mayweather is a former SFW who managed to out point the current lineal MW champion.

    Pacquiao is a former FLW who managed to knock out the previous liberal MW champion.

    That being said Wilfredo Gomez struggled when he put 4 pounds on.

    We know for a fact that Foster was not good when he moved up in weight. We also know for a fact that Tunney beat every man he faced.

    Could Tunney replicate strategies used by Ali to mimick his success? Potentially so. Foreman lost to Jimmy Young and Ali so I can see why some favour Tunney there, I personally wouldn't but I can see it.

    Valuev single handedly proved that there is more to boxing than being the bigger man.
     
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  7. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    I don't think that Foster would have had much more success at heavyweight in Tunney’s era to be honest.

    You might argue that he was unlucky to share an era with Ali and Frazier, but I don't think that he was unlucky to share an era with Jones and Terrell.

    These are the kind of fighters that you have to be able to beat in any era at heavyweight.

    We could cite Jack Delaney as a great ligthheavyweigthn from Tunney's era, who was unable to make the transition to heavyweight.

    We could also point to light heavyweights who were much more successful than Foster at heavyweight, who were contemporaneous with him.

    Some fighters just make the transition better than others.
     
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  8. Cecil

    Cecil Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Well Michael Spinks done ok with super sized heavyweights, but was demolished by the smaller Tyson.
    Styles etc are also a factor.
     
  9. Combatesdeboxeo_

    Combatesdeboxeo_ Well-Known Member banned Full Member

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    super sized hws? who? the skinny 6'6 shot cooney?
     
  10. Cecil

    Cecil Boxing Addict Full Member

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    The 238 pound Cooney.
    Sorry I must have been talking about someone else.
     
  11. Combatesdeboxeo_

    Combatesdeboxeo_ Well-Known Member banned Full Member

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    the same conney that was 224 in his prime in shape at 6'6? at 238 looked **** with his fragile frame of spaggethi.? physically the weakest 6'6 guy in boxing history
     
  12. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    To be honest, fighters who have had a significant career at light heavyweight are almost never successful against genuinely elite superheavyweights.

    That is where the size gap becomes insurmountable in most cases.

    That aside, such fighters have penetrated to the upper levels of the heavyweight division, in every single era.
     
  13. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    There is a real stylistic advantage every SHW has, the jab and grab game.

    It means you need to be quick enough to win on the outside or strong enough to win on the inside.

    If you have a quick strong SHW who can jab and grab its gonna be impossible for a sub 200 man to win.
     
  14. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    That being said I do think Dempsey is an exception to that rule.

    I think he does Wlad within 2 rounds based on the Willard fight.
     
  15. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    I think that what is impossible for a light heavyweight, is just about doable for a small cruiserweight, provided that he has certain equalizers.

    By that I mean god given finishing skills!