38-42 year old George Foreman vs the following giants

You can look up literally any Max Baer fight and see him use the cross arm defense, what are you even talking about?
He used it against Schmeling, Carnera, Louis and Nova from what we see on film.
Aside from that he used right hand parries, ducking and lever blocking.
Comparing near prime Louis to 40 year old Foreman makes for a great read.

 

I’ve seen plenty of Baer footage and never saw anything that I thought resembled good “ D”. Even Braddock was able to land on him at will. And I wasn’t comparing Louis to old Foreman. Only saying that he was the only elite puncher Max faced and got destroyed by him even though Louis was only the pros maybe a year ?

 

Add Two Ton Tony Galento and Foreman STILL moiders all dem bums.

 

Sparks them all early. Max is the one danger man

 

Baer maybe had a number of ploys and tricks (the use of the cross-arm defense, now and then, being one of them) - bits and pieces of what might ostensibly and transitorily pass for skills, but executed in an unfinished manner.

However, 'attack is the best form of defense' was Baer's mainstay, IMO, which he demonstrated repeatedly. It is a feature that I really don't see posing a problem for Foreman. Quite oppositely, I see it being Baer's undoing against the bigger puncher, George.

 

Braddock was able to land on Louis and Farr both of whom had elite defense.

Louis in the pros for a year was a better puncher than 90% of elite heavyweights ever, including a 40 year old Foreman.

You're forgetting Max Schmeling and Louis Nova in that elite puncher group, one whom he beat, the other whom he ran close and lost to cuts after 11 rounds while Baer himself was past prime.

You're telling me you watched Baer fight and didn't see him use the cross guard defense, which is factually incorrect.
Anyway, saying he had no defense is wrong.

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Foreman 'Cooneys' them both!

 

1. I said Louis was a better puncher than foreman go back and read .
2. He got positively killed by Louis. And schmeling and Nova were not in foreman’s class nor did they have his chin
3. Post clips of him effectively using that defense and I might be convinced. I’ve never seen anything resembling good defense from that man

 

So there's not much of a point comparing Baer's performance against a near prime Louis to a 40 year old Foreman.

Schmeling was a great fighter with a great chin. Even the 1933 version is much better than 90s Foreman.

At 10:58 to 11:13 you can see him use the cross arm guard, right hand defense while jabbing and then framing on Schmeling's elbows to prevent punches from being thrown. At 13:49 he does the cross guard again.

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1. I was making no comparison at all. In fact I stated the comment in the form of a question which you couldn’t answer.. here it is “ And which puncher did Baer face better than foreman except for a one year pro Joe Louis who killed him ?“. So ? Which puncher DID Bear face that was better than Foreman except for Louis who had only been a pro a year and managed to Kill him anyway ? Do you think that MAYBE foreman being the second best puncher Bear ever faced might result in George doing a number on him given that #1 Was a one year prospect who utterly destroyed him ? Guessing that won’t go answered.
2. Schmeling was a great fighter. On that we agree. Great chin ? Not so much.
3. There is not footage of Baer using an effective cross armed defense in that clip. You’re making stuff up

 

How many rounds ? Ten or 12 he beats them all ...

 

To be quite honest, I'd favor Cooney over all these guys as well.

 

I would too. Perhaps not the 1990 version who fought George but the rising contender rendition of the early 80s ? Probably

 

Baer vs. Old George has always been an interesting one for me, George didn’t fight that many big punchers in his second career aside from an aging Cooney, a hesitant Morrison and Briggs. Judging from the bombs he took from Holyfield I’d still have faith in George overcoming Max’s storm and countering him into oblivion.