Can George Foreman survive 12 rounds with Oleksandr Usyk

If he doesn’t go full r3tard like he did against Ali he should be able to see the final bell.

 

Usyk would be a stylistic nightmare for Foreman.

 

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are neither of them even top-20 heavyweights of all time. Usyk needs to fight a prime killer boxer heavyweight.. Dubois wasn't it either.

Don't get your panties in a bunch.

 

The question should be could the overrated Usyk survive George

 

If Jimmy Young outboxed Foreman, Usyk can do it too. Even better. Usyk is basically Foreman's size.

 

Usyk could outbox Foreman, but I don't see how he stops him. There is a raft of fighters that Usyk has barely put a dent in. He didn't hurt Chisora significantly; he also didn't do much against Joshua. Breidis and Gassiev were outboxed, too, but they weren't too worried about his power. Foreman had a fantastic chin, much better than the likes of Fury, and if Belly can go 12 rounds, then Foreman definitely can. Holyfield was 25-0 (21) going into the Foreman fight, and teed off on George for 12 rounds more or less, and didn't hurt him once. I don't think Usyk hits harder than Holyfield.

To flip the argument on its head, I'd say Usyk is more likely to get stopped than Foreman. Although my money would be on the fight going 12 rounds. Foreman massacred Frazier and Norton; he's an absolutely murderous puncher, with 2 destructive knockouts against Hall of Famers. If Fury's uppercut can stun Usyk, then Foreman could've definitely had a go as well - I'm not buying into the idea that Fury, Joshua, and Dubois are on the same level as Frazier.

 

If Maira Bredis could hurt Usyk with right hands, Foreman stops him

If Tyson Fury could hurt him with uplercuts, a Foreman uppercut stops Usyk

 

Foreman isn’t going to care one bit about Usyks feinting. He won’t care at all. foreman isn’t Dubois who overreacted to every little twitch.

Usyk is highly unlikely to stop Foreman because he simply does not have a track record of stopping durable fighters.

Usyk does not have fast enough feet to keep Foreman off and his feints and left hands will
Not deter Foreman from marching forward. If Fraziers left hooks and Ali’s combinations, both of whom are offensively better than Usyk, can’t deter Foreman, Usyk has nothing to deter him with.

the idea that every fighter can be kept away by feinting, twitching, etc is silly. Some guys do not care. Beterbiev didn’t care one bit for Usyks feinting and repeatedly hurt Usyk in their two last fights. Usyk had to throw hard shots at Beterbiev to try to keep him off.

Usyk, being a southpaw, is far more open to the right hand and right uppercut than orthodox fighters like Ali and Young. If he walks into one big uppercut, or one big right hand, he could end up in serious trouble.

Foreman is also a brutal body puncher, far better than any body puncher Usyk has seen. When Joshua dug to Usyks body, Usyk simply tried to move. He does not counter well when someone attacks his body. And he hasn’t faced a truly great body puncher who is willing and able to dig relentlessly towards his body.

Foreman has more offensive tools than anything Usyk has seen. Foreman can hurt him with a left hook or left uppercut. Foreman can hurt him with a right hand or a right uppercut. Foreman isn’t going to be deterred by Usyks power and he will
Laugh at the feinting. Not to mention the body shots will be hard to deal with.

Foreman stops him in about 6 rounds.

 

Top post.

 

Who did Foreman stop that was proven against big hitters. Usyk has had far more success against huge hitters than anyone Foreman beat. Foreman was also stopped by a guy in Ali who was not renowned for being a huge puncher so why should we conclude Usyk couldn't hurt him?

Why should we conclude Foreman hits harder than Dubois Joshua Gassiev

 

Ali stopped more durable heavyweights than arguably anyone in history - Foreman, Bonavena, Liston and Lyle.

Foreman stopped Lyle who was proven vs big hitters like Shavers. Foreman and Ali are the only two guys to stop Lyle in his prime. By the time he fought Cooney, he was ancient.

Foreman has not only stopped fighters- everyone who fought him attested to his power. Holyfield said Foreman hit him the hardest out of anyone he faced. People who saw him hit the bag said he hit it harder than ever.

Gassiev isn’t Foreman. If he was, he wouldn’t have lost to a guy like Wallin. Who has Gassiev stopped that is as good as Frazier or Lyle, even at cruiser ?

besides that isn’t the point. Foreman has greater punching variety than those guys. Foreman has a much better chin and as such, he will be able to throw more and land more. Joshua and Dubois both lack confidence in their chin which is why they can be deterred. Foreman can’t .

 

You don’t need to “care” about feints for them to work. The point of a feint is to manipulate reactions, disrupt timing, create openings, and set up punches. If Foreman truly ignores them, then Usyk just gets to land for free. At that point Foreman either starts reacting, or he keeps eating clean shots. “He won’t care” is not an argument.

That’s irrelevant. The real question is whether Foreman can maintain pressure on an ATG mover with elite stamina and footwork for 12 rounds. Foreman’s gas tank is a far bigger issue in this matchup than Usyk’s lack of one-punch power. And shown with Ali you don't need one punch power to knock Foreman out once he gasses.

Since when does Usyk not have fast enough feet? Based on what? Ali was already past his prime against Foreman, his legs were no longer the same, and he still gave Foreman problems with his movement when he used it. So how exactly is Ali “fast enough,” but Usyk somehow isn’t?

And “offensively better” is vague. Better in what sense? More combination variety? More raw aggression? None of that automatically proves Foreman can just walk through Usyk. Styles matter. Frazier came forward into Foreman’s strength and couldn't fight off the backfoot. Usyk fights off angles, resets constantly, and makes opponents keep turning which is a huge counter to Foreman's style.

Again, you keep talking about whether someone “cares” about feints instead of what feints actually do. And Beterbiev is not a great comparison here anyway. He had better feet, better ring-cutting, and much quicker closing ability than Foreman did, and even then Usyk still beat him. If Beterbiev couldn’t just trap Usyk at will, why are we pretending Foreman automatically can?

And if Foreman lands a huge shot, of course Usyk could be in trouble. That’s true of almost anyone. But this is not an argument by itself. Usyk has consistently shown high-level defense, awareness, balance, and distance control. You’re just saying that he could land a punch, which is true in every fight. Doesn't mean one punch will determine the outcome.

Foreman was a great body puncher when he had opponents in position to be hit cleanly. That’s the issue. He did his best body work when he had a man trapped, set, and unable to reset his feet. Usyk’s entire style is built around denying that kind of sustained positioning. Saying Foreman is a great body puncher doesn’t answer the harder question, which is how often he’s actually going to get Usyk stationary long enough to work.

That all assumes Foreman gets the chance to set his feet, corner Usyk, and unload consistently. That is the very thing you still haven’t established. Having more offensive tools means little if your opponent’s movement, positioning, and stamina keep denying you the chance to use them cleanly and repeatedly.

Usyk is not some small heavyweight Foreman can just ragdoll. He’s a big, strong heavyweight with elite conditioning, elite feet, and elite ring IQ. Larger super heavyweights than Foreman have tried to impose themselves physically on Usyk and failed. So why exactly is Foreman the one who gets to ignore all of that?

At the end of the day, your whole argument rests on a bunch of assumptions: that Foreman can cut the ring off, that he can trap Usyk consistently, that he can keep that pace without fading, and that Usyk’s movement and feints suddenly stop being effective for no clear reason. None of that is established. You’re basically just saying Foreman wins because he’s Foreman.

 

- you are vastly overrating the effect of feinting. If Foreman ignores the feints, he gets hit with Usyk’s left hand. Sure, those punches are going to sting but this also opens Usyk up to get hit by a hard right or a hard right uppercut or being trapped on the ropes. Foreman isn’t Dubois or Joshua who are going to become gun shy once hit by a stinging shot. Ali nailed Foreman with hard stinging rights and it did not deter him from moving forward.


- As a pro, Usyk has never once faced a hard puncher who is willing to come forward despite being hit hard . Once Foreman keeps marching forward, Usyk will face a challenge that he hasn’t faced before.


- Usyk does not have especially fast feet. Based on video. A 32 year old Ali has faster feet than any version of Usyk. The second Norton fight showed how fast Ali’s feet were. Please show me footage of Usyk displaying that kind of foot speed. Foreman was a master ring cutter and Usyk simply does not have the fast enough feet to move away.


- Better offensively. A more proven track record of stopping durable opponents. Better harder combination punching. Ali threw hard 5-6 punch combos from early in the fight. See the first Liston fight where Ali nailed Liston with a hard 7 punch combos in round 1. Usyk is not as good a combination puncher. He throws 2-3 punch combos early in the fight and only opens up with 5-6 punch combos later on. And even when he does throw 6 punch combos, he mixes up light shots with a couple of hard ones usually. Ali threw powerful two handed combos where every punch landed with full force. Usyk’s left hands and 3 punch combos are not going to deter Foreman. And this will put Usyk in a position that he has not encountered.

- Usyks body is a big target. The head moves while the body stays still. If you want to pretend that Foreman is so slow that he can’t land body shots, you’re welcome to believe it. Foreman was by no means slow. He actually had underrated foot speed. If Usyk keeps moving around, Foreman will start digging to the body. The idea that Usyk is so fast and Foreman is so slow that Foreman will be unable to target the body is silly.

- Beterbiev has never been fast. He is also not as tall, strong or long armed as Foreman. Even if you believe he is a better ring cutter, he is inferior in most other ways.

- I am not even arguing that Foreman won’t fade. I am arguing that Foreman will cut the ring off successfully. Usyk isn’t Pernell Whitaker. He gets hit plenty . He will be taken to a highly uncomfortable place because his usual tactics will not work. Even someone as limited and robotic as Dubois managed to get him to the ropes.

If Usyk can survive the first 8 rounds, he could win a decision. But I think Foreman stops him in 8. The idea he will simply feint and glide is comical. He will have to absorb some hellacious punches to have any chance. Including body shots, uppercuts, hooks etc. Foreman isn’t some tentative guy like Dubois or Joshua who will be deterred with feinting and left hands.

 

Would be like Holyfield getting the decision in '91.

 

Usyk wouldn't stop Foreman but he'd outpoint him.

Foreman never thrived against boxers even 6'0 under 200 pounds Peralta a former Light Heavyweight who was in his mid 30s went 20 combined rounds with Foreman in 2 fights.

Not to mention Young comprehensively outpointed Foreman clearly.

Usyk by UD IMO too durable, too tricky, too much stamina down the stretch.