Basically George Foreman vs Joe Louis in a nutshell...

Lol Foreman fought nothing like Baer. Foreman was 6'3 230, Baer was 6'2 210 most of his career. Foreman fought the bigger and better opponents and still had a much higher KO percentage because Foreman was the harder puncher. Foreman had a better chin, better footwork, better jab, actually had a modern style. Foreman would destroy Joe Louis. Joe Louis looked good because of his level of opposition. Foreman looked good because he was good.

 

Almost none of the above is true.

 

Lol right because you say so and we all know how much your opinion matters right? I gave facts you will give your opinions. Wait let me guess. You also probably one of those guys who thinks guys like Sam Langford could beat Lennox Lewis right?

 

Ali said Foreman was extremely quick at cutting off the ring. But hey if think Max was better then it must be true. Because we all know that you know more about boxing than Ali did. Every boxer who faced Foreman said he was the strongest person they ever been in the ring with. I never heard anybody say Max was strong. Even if they did most of the guys Max faced were under 200 pounds. Usually under 190 pounds. But if you say Max was stronger than Foreman then it must be true because you know more about boxing than the guys who faced Foreman. George's jab is considered to be on the to top jabs in heavyweight history alongside Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis and a few others. I never heard anybody say Max had a great jab but hey you think Max had a better jab than Foreman so it has to be true. George was only stopped in one fight in his career because of fatigue. Max was stopped 3 times. Foreman fought modern sized heavyweights who had modern skill. Max fought crude fighters who were usually much smaller than him. Foreman fought until he was pushing 50 and fought steroid cheats like Shannon Briggs, Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison and was still stopped less times than Max. Which means Foreman had a better chin. But hey you said Max had a bette chin so clearly your opinion override facts.

Max fought doing a time where the gloves were smaller, less padding equal more knockouts. Again Max faced mostly smaller guys with the exception of Primo Canera a mob controlled fighter who was never good even for the time frame and obese Tony Galento. Foreman fought in a era with bigger gloves and fought bigger people consistently and still has a much higher KO percentage even though Foreman again fought until he was pushing 50 and guys started going to distance with him then. But hey if you think Max is a harder puncher then clearly it must be true right?

Joe Louis did what with his career? Beat a bunch of small guys for the most part with the exception of Primo Carnera, Buddy Baer,Abe Simon and Max Baer. Neither one of these guys were skilled by modern standards. Joe Louis pretty much avoided any top fighter doing his title reign that he didn't think he could beat. He flat right avoided Violent Elmer Ray who won 40 plus fights while Louis was fighting 180 pound guys. Joe Louis couldn't take a punch. This is a fact. Joe Louis chin was so weak that even 160-170 pound light punching Billy Conn had him in trouble. No 170 pound boxer ever hurt Foreman. Foreman went down from Ali a 220 pound man because of Fatigue. Jimmy Young a 220 pound male after suffering a heat stroke and Ron Lyle a 220 pound man who was known for being a big puncher. Now look at who put down Louis.

So gave logical points. You will give me what you believe and what you heard Burt Sugar tell you. Foreman would crush any 200 pound fighter who stood right in front of him.

 

Baer is nothing like Foreman bar the punching power. Lethal, dangerous, extremely hard to beat when focused and prepared. Stylistically, nothing like Foreman.

Funny how people boil when trainers and historians call George underrated: as far as boxing ability goes, he is severly misunderstood and underrated. Period.

 

In this exchange of blows posted by Journeyman92 Louis Vs Baer looks like a Foreman Vs Lyle fight. The difference is that there weren't as many knockdowns.
However, during his first career, Foreman did not lose to punchers.

 

You do realize Joe Louis was George's great hero? As far as I know, even after the end of his career he still considered him the greatest heavyweight champion to ever lace them, diplomatically calling Ali larger than boxing.

Louis was a mechanical wonder. Beautiful to watch and lethal in every aspect. A titan as far as cultural significance goes. World changing for the black contenders. And despite the bum of the month label, his resume like a lion defends itself.

 

We are talking about their stylistic similarities here, not who was the better fighter.

If you want to argue that Foreman was the greater fighter in a historical sense, then I am not going to argue with you.

The fact remains that they were very similar stylistically, and more importantly they had exactly the same stylistic vulnerabilities.

The fact that Foreman cut off the ring better, or made better use of his jab, doesn't make him different from a stylistic standpoint.

If you means that he had a couple or refinements to his game that Baer lacked.

As for who had the better chin, you could argue that either way.

Baer undoubtedly had better stamina however.

Laboratory testing shows that the smaller gloves make no difference to a fighters punching power, so that is a non factor here.

Foreman did fight in an era where there were more big heavyweights, but he also has a lot more padding on his record than Baer, who was thrown in with the contenders very early in his career.

This is almost certainly the principal reason why Foreman's KO % is higher.

In any event it is impossible to say which of these men hit harder, because we have no direct frame of comparison.

Built the best resume of any heavyweight in the history of the sport.

His only peer or near peer in this regard is Ali.

Louis was stopped twice in his career, both tikes after sustained beatings from dangerous punchers.

I would add that he was a far more dangerous puncher than Ali, Young, or even Lyle.

 

"Bigger and better" opponents? On his way up he fought a steady diet of stiffs! Destroy Joe Louis? Here comes more "revisionist" history! Louis is ranked either #1 or #2 with prime Ali...(1963-1967)...

 

It's possible. I think this is a fight that is winnable for Joe Louis, I'm not sure I'd favor him but to say he couldn't win would be wrong. George Foreman relied on his toughness and chin a lot during his career, especially later on. Joe Louis has underrated toughness that is not talked about enough because was stopped by Schmeling after 1,000 full power overhand rights (and the Marciano thing). Joe Louis is more of a setpiece for Marciano fans right now it feels like and his capability to win post 1950s matchups is doubted completely. Louis could give Foreman big trouble and a lot of other greats as well like Holyfield, Patterson, Marciano, and Frazier. Louis would have fit right into the 1970s HW picture.

 

Baer had an injured right hand in this bout, so I don't think it's a fair comparison as to how George would perform against Louis at all. That doesn't mean Louis wouldn't win tho.

 

I like George Foreman, and I do agree that he was better than Max Baer, though there are many similarities in their styles. Joe Louis was a Boxer Puncher. Holyfield was similar (I mention this because Holyfield fought Foreman), but Joe hit harder. Foreman was faster in his first career, but paced himself better in his second career. As strange as it may sound, in his second career, George might actually last longer with Joe. I do believe that Joe Louis could beat either version of George Foreman, most of the time by mid to late round stoppage. IMHO, of course.

 

Louis can't beat Foreman in a shootout early. He'll have to move more than he's used to. Foreman has much better footwork, jab & boxing skills than Baer. He also has better defence (Foreman's defence was good when he applied it). Similar power but Foreman is physically bigger & stronger. Louis has a tough fight on his hands.