Joe could do what Joe does, bob and weave and apply pressure in close. Occasionally, maybe in a thousand tries, Foreman would throw a shoulder out, or break his hand on the top of Joe's bobbing head. So, yes, Joe could pick up a win then.
While lurking I have noticed not only are you a good poster but you were alive when Dempsey was champion I mean no offence saying this but what was the first fight you attended that you can remember DJ?
In reply to Journeyman 92: My Dad took me to my 1st fight. Cowboy Wallace vs. Joe Walcott. The year was 1930. I was 6. My Dad knew Cowboy Wallace and knew nothing about Joe Walcott, at the time. That may have been Jersey Joe's debut, actually. It took place in Vineland, New Jersey, near where I grew up. As an interesting aside, Walcott was listed on the program as Arnold Cream. He later adopted the name Joe Walcott, and added the Jersey to it.
Frazier had just cleaned out the division and was coming off maybe the biggest win the sport had seen. He deserved a couple of easy touches but he took too much time off. Of course we know Joe did have some health issues that had his team mentioning retirement.
He didn’t. He warned Foreman. Foreman didn’t do it again. There’s a lot that goes on in the first round and change that isn’t shoving. Putting your hands on your opponent is not a foul. Using your hands to manipulate an opponent to gain an angle, as Foremman did several times in the first isn’t illegal in professional boxing — we see fighters trapped in corners all the time who do the same dance to escape the corner and turn the tables, putting their opponent in the corner. Foreman wasn’t a finesse guy but there’s no rule that says ‘if you make it look smooth it’s ok but if it’s a bit cumbersome it’s not.’ Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield (in fact pretty much all George Benton guys), Larry Holmes … all of these guys put their hands on opponents and manipulated them. Link me a rulebook that says it’s illegal. There’s also no rule that says a combatant cannot stick his arms out against the opponent’s shoulders or chest to stop the opponent’s forward progress. That’s not shoving. It’s fending the guy off. Again, link me the rulebook and cite the rule that states that is not legal. Now George did straight shove him back a few times — maybe five times or so … and then he got warned and he didn’t do it again. He did I think once extend his arms and fend Frazier from barreling forward but, again, that’s not illegal. The thing about refereeing a fight is, a ref can warn a guy (you can argue Mercante should have warned him more, or sooner, but he did warn him). He can, if the fighter continues to do the action against which he’s been warned, deduct a point and then more points and then DQ. But George was warned and he didn’t do it again so there wasn’t a reason for even a second warning. The only thing excessive in this fight was the excessive ass-whupping George put on Joe.
Do you remember anything from the fight!? Thank you for your answer DJ regardless if you can recall anything else I appreciate it and your time. 90 odd years of watching boxing, I can't believe some of the disrespectful little ****s I have seen here talk down to you.
Whenever people talk about Foreman framing and extending his arms it needs to be mentioned it only becomes illegal if he holds and hits (Saddler lol) or is outright shoving. For heavyweight examples we have Ali, Holmes and Archie Moore who used to do similar things when the time called for it. Willie Pep used to frame off his man plenty it happened a lot more back then when the gloves suited the style an issue with Foremans style is the gloves don't suit it as well as they once could have but Saddler did a good job making it work.
I remember it was short and that my Dad was disappointed in the outcome. Joe (Arnold) got the Cowboy out of there in the 1st round. We never realized, until years later, what we had actually witnessed there. It was probably Joe's 1st pro fight. The Cowboy, and Joe, himself, for that matter, probably only made a few dollars for that fight...most likely very few.
it was Frazier who neglected the jab. Foreman used the jab to perfection, keeping his shorter opponent away and then speared Joe into a corner. I also like the way Foreman gave Joe angles early on. He made himself a much tougher target than Ali who just stood in front of him. You could see how team Foreman came up with the perfect battle plan and how well George put it into practice.
No champion deserves makingTWO back to back defences against unranked journeymen imo. It cheapened his reign.
Perhaps. I guess he had built up enough respect prior to that more or less cleaning out the division. He did go out fighting the #1 contender.
Per UPI when he fight was announced, Stander was ranked 10th by the WBA. He had wins over a declining Thad Spencer and a rising Earnie Shavers fwiw.
