'73 George Foreman vs. '88 Mike Tyson

I never said Tyson was G-d, idiot. And I shouldn't have to explain myself, but for those who are less than capable of forming their own opinion on the matter, I've always constructed reasonable arguments to back my own opinions.

Nobody is unbeatable. Head to head Mike Tyson is even money or better against every other heavyweight. You can't say the same for Ali even. It happens to be my opinion and I've stated why over the last 5 years since I've been posting on ESB.

Posters like Unforgiven are reasonable with their debates. Most aren't

 

I'm sorry but Tyson isn't even money against every heavyweight, sorry man. I know it hurts. If anything Ali is.

 

No need to be insulting.

 

Well one thing this thread did was convince me to watch the Foreman-Lyle fight again.

Man what a fight! Sort of reminds me a bit of the Lewis - Klitschko fight in that technically it was awful, but it was also brutal. That Foreman survived the 4th and looked like he was out on his feet in the 5th and still found away to win, was an amazing display of fortitude, courage and power. He looked like he was out on his feet in the 5th and 15 seconds later he's throwing 3-4 jabs.

 

And how much better off was Lyle who was 35 years old and coming off of three brutal fights where he was beaten in two of them and nearly had his block knocked off by shavers in the other one?

 

It's still one of the best heavyweight fights of all time and one that foreman should be appraised for. But it also showed some weaknesses within 70s Foreman's game that other greats might have exploited. Still a great effort though.

 

Yes, he was beatable by the right style, but the question is does a Tyson type fighter possess the right strategy?

Obviously someone like Ali does, but going straight at George and try and beat him, plays into his strength.

I also just watched the Foreman - Stewart fight. That was another great (in terms of entertainment) fight.

 

I've actually always given foreman the "slight" edge in a Tyson fantasy fight . But only narrowly. I just think that Tyson's handspeed, power, chin and two fisted combinations could potentially be a problem for a 70s George who had poor defense, average stamina and was always slow moving. But again I can also see those looping power shots catching Tyson in similar fashion to the way they caught Frazier.. That and George was brutal at controlling a man in the clinches. He was immensely strong. Hell at nearly 70 years old he probably still is... And yes the Alex Stewart fight was brutally entertaining and ugly. I saw it over 20 years ago when it aired on HBO and remember thinking that it would be a short night for George.. And it started off looking that way when Alex hit the deck twice early... But from there it turned into a war and one of the bloodiest fights I had seen in years to that point.. Foreman's swollen and bloody face was a chilling memory that haunted me forever...

 

I'm usually not into that kind of brainless, sloppy brawl but it was a very fun, highly entertaining fight while it lasted. Definitely shows some of Foreman's weaknesses and technic shortcomings.

 

Oh there's no doubt that Tyson's speed could result in Foreman getting KO'd.

Like I said (thanks for the compliment btw) it's a pretty hard call and I find it hard to understand how any poster can say either fighter wins with any degree of certainty. But I do think Foreman's propensity to push fighters back then go after a fighter, would cause Tyson problems, the question is could he over come this by throwing combinations and hurting George. Obviously I don't know the answer.

 

Yes, I remember reading a bio of George and being surprised he won an Olympic gold metal. But as I watch him more and more, it seems like he has a style that works for him, and sometimes that's all you need. I don't agree with the comment that Gil Clancy made but in the Stewart fight he said that George had one of the top three jabs all time in the heavyweight division, and pointed to Liston as someone who was on that list. I found it a surprising comment considering that Ali and Holmes were overlooked.

BTW, I'm currently reading a bio on Ray Arcel.

 

The Shavers one was brutal but showed Lyle's ability to come back and knock Shavers out.

 

Once again, yours is the type of well balanced opinion that "should" have been the norm in this thread.. The only wrong answer is one which "emphatically" favors one over the other in short and easy order.. For people like you and I however, there is no forgone conclusion either way...

 

I like these type of fights for the entertainment value. I realize most of the boxing skills are throwing out the window and you're watching a fight, but when you think about this fight, and the Lewis - Klitschko fight (Lampley called this a pier 6 brawl, and Merchant called it Ward- Gatti on the highest scale), very few fights have generated more buzz. Some have called the Foreman-Lyle fight one of the most entertaining in the heavyweight division, comparable to Holyfield - Bowe.

And winning these type of fights requires it's own skill set, mostly heart, fortitude and a refusal to lose mentality.

 

Yeah drug addicts like Alex Stewart.

And did you see how fast Foremam ran when Holmes called him out?