Thought Experiment: Predicting the results of fights that actually happened

There's a reason Foreman's been fighting bums all his career; he's just not that good. Aside from his horrendous punch technique and sloth like speed, he just doesn't possess any boxing nous whatsoever, just plodding forward with that arms out stance trying to walk guys down and bomb them out. That might work against lesser fighters, but against a world class operator like Frazier I think he's going to be in a world of pain.

My prediction for this one is similar to Frazier's last fight with Ron Stander. Frazier comes out bobbing and weaving, avoiding the jabs and wild swings of Foreman and banging away to his body and head, gradually wearing Foreman down and stopping him late. Of course Foreman's a better fighter than Stander, but is he really that much more powerful? I have my doubts.

Frazier TKO 9 or 10.

 

The only reason that promoters keep making these mismatches is that we, the public, watch them. Remember the good old days, when Dempsey always fought the most dangerous challengers? Now anybody can get a title shot by beating a string of journeymen. Fighters today just don't get the rounds in against good opposition, since they're so concerned with losing their "0". And the result is fighters like Foreman, who has an Olympic medal, is about to fight for the championship, and lacks rudimentary boxing skills.

 

What is this called “one for the ages” or “one for the AGED” lol. This is ridiculous IMHO! I like George Foreman as much as most people, but at this stage he is just a sideshow. He is 45 y/o for crying out loud. There is a reason he has not been champ for 20 years, and there is a reason he retired for 10 odd years. He is just not a legitimate HW contender at this stage. He got his chance 3 years ago, and came up short against Holyfield.

Michael Moorer is undefeated...I repeat UNDEFEATED for a reason. He is a 2-1 favorite for a reason and if not for the historic name of Foreman it would be wider. C’mon big George is basically a novelty act at this stage. He has become a slow tubomorphic inflatobeast and is slower and more cumbersome than ever. At this stage he will look about as good as Fezzik did against the Dread Pirate Roberts in the Princess Bride. It is almost laughable I actually feel sorry for him.

I guess they want to use his name and popularity to sell the sport or something. He can’t even beat Tommy Morrison and now they have him going up against Moorer.

Give me Moorer either by a wide decision or the ref mercifully stopping this to save George from embarrassment and punishment. Foreman might be able to go the distance but no reason to believe he has a chance here.

 

Tyson-Holyfield 1996

Evander sadly looks like a shot fighter, lost to a blown up LHW Michael Moorer, stopped by Bowe and looked terrible against Bobby f'n Czyz. Mike on the other hand looks like he's getting back to what was before the Douglas loss, the speed, power and ferocity are all there. He blitzed Bruno who was coming off a career best win over McCall who flattened Lewis, he destroyed Seldon nice and quick.
Sorry but all good things come to an end and Holyfield has had a great career but I predict Mike will finish him inside 3 I just hope Evander doesn't get seriously hurt and can enjoy his retirement.

 

I seldom agree with Larry Merchant (I hope this is not a sign of things to come) but I agree this is a joke.

I love Pac and his style, but beating JMM (although I scored the first a draw and the 2nd for Márquez), and Barrera is one thing, beating the naturally larger DLH is another.

He took 2 decisions against Morales but didn’t fare real well in the first fight at SFW. He has shown himself to be a great fighter with a warrior mentality that wants to beat the best! I applaud that, but he has really only had 1 fight at LW and looked good stopping Diaz. But jumping 2 weight classes to fight borderline great DLH does not sound like his wisest move.

Oscar is not quite in his prime, but still fighting at a top level in
losing a close decision to Mayweather perhaps the best boxer of the last 25 years or so, and in fairness I did have DLH winning that fight 115-113. He is not fighting a great MW in Hopkins or even a proven Welter in Tito or Mosley who were proven to be solid Welters.

Oscar is fighting a great, yes “Great” boxer in Pac. Arguably #1 p4p in the sport. But to expect or even to hope that Manny as great is he is can jump 2 weight classes (to me he has not really proven himself elite at LW either) and challenge a slowing but still highly skilled DLH at WW seems a hill to high to climb. Do I rate Pac higher? Yes, but in a p4p sense not a h2h one.

I expect pacs speed may make it look competitive for a round or 2, similar to Meldrick vs Norris. But I expect the result to be similar. I don’t see Pac being able to hurt him and Oscar seems to me to have most advantages. Size reach power etc.

If Pac struggled with JMM and Morales at SFW, I don’t see how he can be expected to go 3 weight classes up and beat or even be competitive with DLH.

I don’t believe he can go 6 rounds before Oscar catches him for good! Oscar stops him in 5 and unfortunately we will probably never get to see Manny and Floyd (who should be fighting each other instead of this farce)....a shame!!


To further diminish any credibility I have in future hypothetical h2h’s I actually had these thought and predicted an Oscar win by stoppage in real life. Sure I have predicted some fights right...but I have been miles off in others like this one!

 

Some fights are real strange.

Would anyone predict Marvis Frazier beating Bonecrusher Smith? That one realy got me thinking.

 

I cannot see myself picking a fighter with the record of Foreman at this point, over a proven champion like Frazier. Even if I was quick to cotton on to Frazier's decline, and Foreman's stylistic assets, I still probably wouldn't take the last crucial step.

Given Leonard's recent inactivity, and the fact that he had stepped up in weight, combined with results vs common opposition, I am certain that I would have made Hagler a strong favorite.

I would have come at this with the mindset that Walcott was unlikely to do better second time round, and that Marciano was likely to implement a better fight plan. I would have expected Marciano to win, but I would also have probably expected a more competitive fight.

 

I would definitely have been suspicious of how timidly Foreman had been matched coming into the Frazier fight.