Joe Louis vs George Foreman: Do you agree with this prediction

In general, I agree with you. I think George might last longer than five, but I do agree that Boxer-Puncher Joe Louis would get him eventually.

 

If you put a gun to my head, then I think that this is roughly what would happen.

 

Gotta agree.
70s Foreman was a punching machine, but Louis had the right combination of toughness, defensive skills and counterpunching power to keep George honest.
Once we are pass the 6th round George is in unknown territory and Louis has the advantage.
Louis by late stoppage or a wide decision.

 

It could potentially be even more one sided in Louis' favour. Foreman was a freakish fighter, his physical strength and punching power were incredible, and he had some solid layers to his game on top of that, but he was not a master technician. His whole style relied on keeping his opponent at his preferred range by pushing them, smothering them and keeping them at arm's length to set up shots and cut off the ring. It was effective against aggressive fighters like Frazier and Norton, but it has it's drawbacks when faced with genuinely great technicians who are willing to exploit that style's weaknesses, as Ali showcased.

Much has been said about the Rope a dope, but Ali was not on the ropes for the entire fight, only landing some shots here and there, and finishing it off when Foreman got tired. That couldn't be further from the truth. Look at the beginning of round 1 :

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At 21:20 Foreman attempts to extends his arms to keep Ali at arm's length, and that leaves him open to a counter left hook and a right hand down the middle, Ali then smothers him to prevent any return fire. Similar cases of Ali countering the open Foreman can be seen at 21:40, 21:58, 22:19, 22:40, 23:14, 26:22, 27:25, 29:09, 29:55, 30:21, 30:49, 30:58, 31:53, 31:59, 33:28, 33:42, 34:06, 37:54, the whole sequence at 39:42, 43:26, 43:36, 43:48, 46:46, 46:54, 47:43, 49:14-49:19, 50:28, 51:44 and even during the KO at 51:51, Ali managed to hit Foreman due to his long guard. Louis was just as adept as Ali at exploiting openings and at counter-punching, and he was just a straight up better puncher than him that could hit harder and finish someone off easily when he had his man hurt. Louis would butcher him, IMO.

And yes, I did watch the whole fight just to make a point.

 

Sounds about right. Louis savages him.
Foreman admitted it himself.

 

Complete agree. This bout could only end by a KO imo.

 

Yes. Only heavyweight I put above Louis is Ali but like with Ali there are folks here who will try to argue with you that he wasn’t really nothing.

 

How the hell does a cruiserweight beat Foreman. Too small, too light, not fast enough. As for power, Louis would have to get past a very powerful jab and hope to **** he doesn’t get clobbered by a right. Else he kisses the canvas.

 

Louis would overwhelm George in 8.

 

To be fair George was that self-deprecating that he always, and I mean always gave other fighters the nod over himself. Like when he said he was scared of Norton and did not want that fight. He didn't want to fight Frazier, nor Tyson (states this after he retired but wanted that fight 100% when he was in his comeback), said that he was worried that Gerry Cooney could get him out of there and so on. I would never take George's word for any of it and I think we can pretty much say that he was scared of nobody. He's just incredibly humble.

That said, and I say this as someone who holds George Foreman as my favourite fighter of all time and by some margin, I do not like his chances against Joe Louis. George always has a knockout chance given his other-worldly power and insane strength but I do think that Joe is able to outbox and outmaneuver George to the point where the big man gets frustrated and leaves himself open to too much punishment.

If Louis gets through 5 rounds then he can outbox George to a decision and that is what I think happens 7 out of 10 times in this cracking match up of legends.

 

Firstly Louis doesn’t savage Foreman. Secondly when did Foreman say this this?

 

You act like Louis was some kind of midget. You are aware that Foreman’s reach advantage over Louis was a humongous 3 inches LOL.

 

Louis was too glass-chinned and flat-footed to beat George. He'd be eating savage jabs and getting tied up or pushed back every time he tried to close distance. Foreman was great at bullying and manhandling smaller fighters, and Louis fought in that old school close distance and fight in a phonebooth style that'd play right into his hands.

 

Look it up. He said something along the lines of :'Joe Louis was a real puncher, he would have given me a shellacking'.