'73 George Foreman vs. '88 Mike Tyson

Foreman beats him.

Holyfields strategy against Tyson was grounded in the theory that Tyson needed to move forward to effectively execute his offense. Hence Holyfield pushed him around the ring to prevent him from setting up his power-punches. Now can you imagine the much bigger and stronger Foreman pushing Mike around the ring whenever he gets close, just like he did against Frazier? I certainly can.

Foreman manhandles Tyson on the inside and peppers him with lamppost jabs while he's coming in. At some point he catches him with a right or uppercut as he's slipping the jabs and finishes him. Think Bonecrusher Smith fight.

 

That's exactly how I see it, Foreman would man handle Tyson into position and take him apart with those devastating uppercuts.

 

Foreman wins inside 3 rounds.

 

Bone crusher fight?

Smith landed one significant punch on a sleeping Tyson in the last 10 seconds of the fight, while he spent 99% of the rest of the fight putting the audience to sleep.

 

Sleeping Tyson? He was irritated and was trying desperately to get the KO. Smith, who like you said was in survival mode the whole fight decided to showboat a bit at the end, timed Tyson coming in and staggered him.

I'm not saying this means much, but it's a subtlety and an insight on a fighters weakness. Later on Holyfield timed and countered Tyson to death and almost got him out of there at the end of the 10th in a similar manner Smith staggered him.

My overall point being Tyson was there to be hit when closing the distance. Foreman, unlike Bonecrusher won't be scared to let his hands go, and if he connects like that it's good night Irene.

 

Even money fight for me. While Tyson fought the type of style that George could take advantage of, I've never completely bought into the notion that Foreman's destruction of Joe Frazier was a clear indication of what he'd do to Tyson. Tyson had a better chin, faster hands, power in both the left and right, along with an extra 15 lbs. In fact Tyson weighed right around the same as 70's Foreman.. It would be a tough fight and a crowd pleaser. Both men were dangerous at both mid and close range. I can almost envision a similar fight to the foreman vs Lyle bout where multiple knockdowns are exchanged but who wins I haven't a clue.

 

Well, there might be a clue in who won the Lyle fight, and how many knockdowns (if any) you really think Tyson could suffer and go on to win from ....

(btw, I suspect 1973-'74 Foreman would have made shorter work of Lyle too, than he did in 1976 comeback fight.)

 

Agreed. George was off for around 15 months and coming off a devastating defeat when he fought lyle. Three years earlier that meeting might have featured a bit less drama. I can still however see a similar type of fight between he and Tyson. Tyson never rose off the canvas to win a match to my knowledge. But most of his defeats were the results of sustained beatings over many rounds and mostly when being past it or damages goods. George was a heartbeat away from being out after the second knockdown with Lyle though his rally to win that fight was amazing. Still a 50/50 fight in my eyes. I don't buy Into this notion that it would be a two round cake walk for big George.

 

Tyson didn't exactly take a sustained beating in the first Holyfield fight, he was getting out fought but wasn't taking a beating until Holyfield landed a hard shot to the temple in the 10th round. It wouldn't need a sustained beating from Foreman anyway.

 

Not necessarily a cake walk, but I do think it would be a short fight with Foreman winner.
I use to underrate Foreman against boxers, but in his 1973-'74 shape he probably beats just about everyone. I'd pick Ali over him of course, and I'd pick Louis. Liston probably, and Holmes at his best would stand a pretty good chance ... everyone else gets made into real underdogs to some degree or another.

 

Yeah, Foreman lands a hard shot to the head and follows up with a few, that's almost equal to a sustain beating anyway.
The man was an absolute beast.
Also, he could come back from massive shots and bad knockdowns, proved himself that way.

 

Ruddock and Bruno could both hit very hard and did stun Tyson during their fights.I think foreman would push Tyson back as he attacks and would hit him with booming uppercuts and hooks . if he could keep Tyson on the outside (no mean feat) would win by KO would be awesome absolute mayhem!

 

Yeah just imagine what Foreman would have done once Tyson was hurt like in the Bruno fight. He sure as hell wouldn't have grabbed him for dear life and rabbit punched him to death....

 

And that could certainly happen... But not something I'd bet my house on as the opposite could just as easily occur.