Mike Tyson ''88 vs Foreman ''73 I know most us,including me pick George, but

Show us how it’s done, write a good one for Foreman vs Tyson.

 

Yes more powerful capable fighter like Tyson would be. But in his first career when he was facing smaller fighters worked great.

 

Agree 100% but remember after one knockdown Foreman got up in really bad shape and the bell rang. I think 20 more seconds and Lyle would have had him out. But Lyle still had a chance and Foreman took him out so George won fair and square.

 

The only thing '73 Foreman would have on Mike is height and some reach. Big George was 217.5 lbs vs Frazier, Tyson fought at 218 lbs in '88.

As others have pointed out already, Mike was not Frazier, he was much faster and hit harder, and peak Tyson wouldn't be bullied around nearly as much as Joe was by George.

I think second career Foreman might have been a tougher match-up for Mike.

 

Mike Tyson has a more proven chin to me. in and around his prime with losses he had to be really hammered to be stopped, he ate shots from Lennox as a zombie and against Holyfield it's a lot of the same as with Foreman vs Ali he was done, Tyson however did not quite react to shots the way GF did with Lyle a rd1 staggering and tumbling act across the bout, in the 70s that was his single bout against a puncher, his very good defence made up for a lot of things in GF's comeback... Bruno x2, Tucker, Williams, Pinklon, Ruddock x2, Douglas, Bonecrusher, Berbick - 80s Tyson in shape took punches incredibly well, though GF's issue was probably due to his static head. Holyfield also said he wasn't sure Foreman hit harder then Tyson... GF and MT hit about the same most likely, same as Lyle, Shavers, B Cooper, Ruddock, Liston...etc.

 

Just for the record, he actually took about a million punches to the head from Holyfield, who punched him moderately hard. He took a ton of punches from Lewis, who punched him very hard, including a clean overhand to the jaw, which was Lennox's strongest punch, and he still had to be pushed. He took a million punches from Danny Williams. The only one who actually knocked him down was Buster Douglas after the most beautiful punching combination I've ever seen in heavyweight, and YES, even that was when Tyson was completely exhausted. A fresh Tyson took monstrous bombs from Ruddock, got a right-on-right from puncher Bruno, who punched harder than McCall, and got hit hard by Tucker.

As for the fight – Foreman won. But for me, it's still 50-50, with George favoring him. I simply believe he would have caught him more often than the other way around. George would have been worse for Tyson than a top Holyfield, worse than a top Liston, and much worse than a top Lewis or Tokyo Douglas. He would be worse than Ali. He would be almost as bad as Vitali Klitschko.

 

Lemme try.

So I see a lot of people saying that getting pushed back is what Tyson wants. No it isn’t. What Tyson needs is controlling the range, as he is literally 5’10. Both Holyfield and Douglas beat tf out of Tyson by practically pushing him back, because they didn’t just push him and stand there, they kept moving forward, smothering Tyson’s offense by forcing him to reset via constantly keeping him on the backfoot and exchanging from THEIR longer range. Tyson can’t fight well on the backfoot, he HAS to come forward.

Watch Foreman’s matches with Norton, Chuvalo and Frazier. Especially against shorter opponents, the very first thing he does is extending his arms, throwing stiff jabs to back you up and controlling the center of the ring. Then he keeps walking you down and just parries and pushes you back if you try to fight back.

Foreman is a nightmare situation for Tyson. He‘s gonna to the match with Ruddock’s physical power and Holyfield / Douglas’ gameplan. Only threats I see here are Tyson’s handspeed and counter-hook after slipping the jab, but Foreman’s defense record is perfect against 6’0- fighters that work off of bodyshots and a mean hook.

 

Holyfield dropped him with a body shot. The announcers were tripping over themselves to say it was a slip.. it wasn't a slip. Don't run up on Holyfield like he's Pete McNeely.

 

Foreman would win, but it would not be a walk in the park for sure; it would be a slugfest never seen before.

 

I’ve gone back and forth over the years with this one. I can see valid arguments for both sides. Right now I’m sort of 50/50 but next week that could change. The one thing I’m confident of is that neither of these guys are having an easy night. Both men take AND give a hammering.

 

Yes, of course, fight the notion that McNelley landed a ton of punches on Tyson and tested his chin, and that Holyfield almost killed him with a body shot. Honestly, I have no idea what these people are doing on this forum, what they're suggesting. Is this about arguing? To garner some attention? It's pure idiocy.