Peak George Foreman Versus Peak Lennox Lewis

Big George

 

Peak Lennox Lewis is IMHO the year 2000. When Tua, Grant and Botha were defeated.
George Foreman's peak was in 1973-74.
I think Lewis, or better said Steward plus Lewis would get a win, similar to the win over Tu. Although I think Lewis would be in more danger than in a fight with Tua

 

Peak first career George takes it. Lewis after that.

 

Big George would be surprised himself just how hard Lennox hit, he'd not be able to physically push him around as easy either
Lennox takes the fight seriously and uses his Jab a lot here.
I don't see a McCall or Rahman type ko, Lennox isn't gonna mess around in there.
By the mid way I see George frustrated, fatigued and dropping his guard more.
When the boom comes it'll put George down heavy and that's all she wrote.

Lewis wko 8 for me

 

I too go for Lewis,Fergy. But Lennox would have to follow a strict plan to do it - boxing carefully for the first five rounds or so. It would be a high risk strategy to come out trading bombs with George early. Once Foreman starts gassing after the first half of the fight is over,Lennox then starts landing his own heavy shots and stops Foreman.

 

I went with Lennox. Love George Foreman and he’s one of my favorites. But he also fit the sort of mold that Lennox regularly cracked

 

Best vs. best? '73 Foreman vs '00 Lewis?

Lewis fights very cautiously until Foreman starts to tire (remember, this isn't '90s Foreman with the smart stamina management), and then a tired Foreman finds himself up against a guy who hits at least as hard as Ron Lyle, who has forgotten more about boxing than Ron Lyle ever knew, with a 5in reach advantage.

I think it looks sort of like Lewis vs. Tyson. Real cautious at first, followed by destruction.

 

Exactly what he did against Tyson. Wouldn't be like he hadn't run this plan before.

 

I can’t for the life of me see Lewis evading or neutralising Foreman’s energy. Although a good defensive Boxer, he is an awful big target, & has speed of manoeuvre about on par with what you’d expect from a man his size, which isn’t terribly convincing. It’s hard to dismiss his abysmal punch resistance in such a fight, TBH. I don’t necessarily think it will be easy, but I do feel very confident Foreman would knock his head off at some point.

I do actually think though that Lewis’ best shot (does he have the nerve to try it?) is to storm out & try to blow Foreman away, ala Ruddock & Grant.

 

Because what advantage does Foreman really have here? Some small amount of power? Hardly makes up for his poor stamina management at that age, wild telegraphed swings, lack of speed, and lack of ring-IQ (sorry, no version of Lewis gets rope-a-doped or punches himself out). Chin? Eh, don't give old Foreman's chin to young Foreman.

I'd bet on a speedy slickster over a slow big puncher against Lewis. Pre-exile Ali? Holmes at his best? Lewis is going to have real issues. A guy whose main strength is but ONE of Lewis's main strengths? Not so much.

 

A bit too much is being made of the chin issue here. Lewis was clowning against Rahman, got caught mid-clown. He was surprised by the shot, didn't have his hands up, and it was 100% his own fault. Can't imagine how dumb he felt after. McCall? Ok, that was legitimate, but hey, anyone want to place money on Ali hitting harder than McCall? No?

Lewis took shots from Tyson, Tua, Mercer, and other bangers without issue.

On the other hand, does anyone think Lewis didn't hit as hard as Ron Lyle?

 

I agree Lewis was clowning, but that does little to reduce the fact he was knocked stupid by Rahman in a single punch. His punch resistance is poor - maybe abysmal was too strong a word, but he’s unquestionably in a perpetual state of extreme vulnerability to the type of power Foreman can produce. McCall couldn’t hit on Foreman’s level with a shotgun in hand.

I do think it’s a bit odd you’re applying context to Lewis’ losses, but are clearly ignoring the fact that Foreman’s KO loss to Ali was exhaustion-based. He was not remotely hurt.

Lewis hit hard enough to KO Foreman & that’s why I’d encourage him to roll the dice, but he’s not going to blow him out immediately given what we saw from Foreman in the Lyle fight. He may, though, be able to weaken Foreman enough to set him up for a knockout.

Most picking Lewis will elect him to box his way to victory, but IMO allowing Foreman to be on the offensive & at full power will almost certainly end badly.

 

Your right pal. If Lewis decides to go blasting his way in to George's reach early, then it could be suicide.

 

Doubtless, it’s very high-risk. But a fight with Foreman is already high risk given Lewis’ chin & recuperative powers. IMO, it’s even more dangerous to allow Foreman to retain his senses & power, & remain on the offensive for a protracted period, than it is to try to take his legs out from under him from the get-go.