Really? George was one of the best at cornering his opponents. Joe was good but George just too big and powerful.
I think the prime Foreman is in many ways the most over rated of the upper tier of the heavyweight champs .. I think a prime Louis destroys him ..
Sorry did I forget to mention that George had a very powerful jab? A punch that Joe relied on. Best can’t see Louis reaching George without getting tagged.
Trying to walk Louis down, is a good way to get killed. He loved nothing better, than to back away from an opponent, and keep them walking into a carefully prepared killing zone. If an opponent put one foot forward, then he smelled blood!
Theoretically yes. He was one of boxing’s hardest and most dangerous punchers and Louis was hurt by lesser hitters. In practicality ? Not sure if I’d favor him to do it. Joe Louis was an even better puncher than Foreman was and had the skill, hand speed and style to penetrate Foreman’s porous defense to inflict fast and early damage. I hate to use the word “ crude “ to describe George Forman. But In the 1970’s he often displayed that he WAS a little on the crude side, and crude punchers never did well against Louis.
Louis is one of the very very few I'd favor over peak Foreman. I'm certainly not counting Foreman out but the lightning fast power laden pinpoint shots of Louis brilliantly used as counters when need be would be a sweet foil to George's wider swings. Unbeaten George is going to corner anyone and right there is the key. You need plenty of power and ability to fight him off and gain some respect otherwise the fat lady is next up on stage. It's why i favor a Louis and Liston where as the likes of Holmes and Holyfield et al i personally see as underdogs. So much get written about the Louis chin but he's like Larry Holmes - both can be dropped and hurt but they have brilliant powers of recuperation and huge hearts. Tactically Holmes often gave himself a short time to clear his head and it was back to business and with Louis he liked to fire back - hard. He was extremely dangerous when hurt.
George will grill up a Joe Louis pancake. If you cannot escape with footwork,... and Joe could not...bye bye ...Bring the syrup and butter.
They are both to an extent tailor made for each other. I think Joe's lack of mobility moving away from engagement might be his undoing. But Joe could also punch inside George's assault and cause all kinds of trouble. It really is one of the greatest mythical matchups.
It seems, unsurprising so I guess, I'm in the minority The vast majority seems to pick Louis, and if I was betting money, I'd put that money on Foreman. Louis was everything everyone has said, and yet, that still got him floored by the Galento's, Buddy's and Jimmy's of the world; why wouldn't I think someone who's better in almost every way, plus a better finisher, shouldn't find a way to get the job done? Louis isn't some mover who's going to set up Foreman to walk into something using all these angles, he wasn't hard to find, hit, and sometimes put down. I think Louis will get hit will something big, go down, and since I don't think he's very good at holding when hurt; or at least, good enough to hold off Foreman and stall, I see Foreman ending the fight more times than not. Yes, if they fought 10 times, Louis would win some because of his pin point accuracy and power, and he'd put Foreman in all sorts of trouble. However, I still think Foreman wins more of those fights, but hey, what do I know.
Great post. This is the flipside scenario for sure and the exact way a win for George would likely go down. No matter who one favors this bout is an open affair.
Foreman was not as skilled as Louis, but Joe's chin was not too amazing. It was fair, but not amazing. And you needed an amazing chin to beat Foreman. This is not a blanket statement though. I can reasonably see Louis beating George, and what I said I did not even say to say that I think George would necessarily beat Joe.