Corbett vs Foreman. 1893, 45 rounds

Let's remove the nostalgia. I'm the first to respect old boxers; pioneers. 45 rounds would not be necessary, 5 is enough. Let's be realistic. Joe Frazier, as the current world champion, lasted less than 2 rounds, and was knocked down 6 (six) times. What makes you think James Corbett is better than Joe Frazier? That would be a massacre. I feel so sorry for James, that for a lot of money I would enter the ring instead of James.

 

Corbett does the unthinkable and quits while the ref is giving his instructions noticing the size difference.

 

Well played, Glass Cobra. Well played.

 

The fight would be over very quickly.

However, parts of Corbett would be found during archeological digs, many years later.

 

"Teeth were found in this cave, while jaw fragments were amazingly discovered nearly 70 feet away belonging to the same specimen. We cannot even speculate what caused this much damage to the skull".

 

It's a very big difference, but not quite as much as you'd expect on paper. If you look at photos and film of Corbett, he's deceptively big-looking (or at least tall-looking) when you put him next to other heavyweights. Not huge, but big enough to dispel thoughts that he was this little guy.

Doesn't help him against Foreman, mind you...

 

"The leading theory is that Pompadour Man -- as archaeologists have dubbed the specimen, from the remarkably well preserved hairdo on one of the skull fragments -- was a hunter in his primitive community. Most of his injuries are consistent with modern rodeo performers. They call to mind similar patterns seen in Neanderthal victims of megafauna."

 

I don't know which is funnier, the idea of a missing link called "Pompadour Man" or comparing Foreman to megafauna. That's gotta be one of the funniest fat jokes I've ever read.

 

Although I was thinking of Young Foreman, your interpretation is funnier.

 

Tyson is a million times more skilled.

 

Thought I'd bump because I find this match is much more intriguing after reading @apollack’s In the Ring with James J. Corbett.

Firstly, I think it's integral how Corbett is much, much more experienced with the 'fight to the finish' ruleset than George is. It's essentially a different sport, with Corbett going lengths Foreman hasn't even seen and that isn't even taking into account Corbett's grappling experience. Leading up to the Sullivan fight, Corbett was roughly 191 lbs and doing Greco-Roman sparring every day with a few wrestlers. That isn't significantly less than Foreman, who averaged 217-224 in his prime. I've seen wrestlers of far greater weight disparities manhandle the other, and the difference between someone with genuine experience in grappling and a boxer without any is immense. Even from the footage we have, it's pretty clear Jim was a skilled clincher and knew when, and how, to close the distance. He even seemed to have underrated strength as well, according to Tom Sharkey and Fitzsimmons.

And yeah, I know Corbett's punching form is pretty damn goofy. While he throws pretty decent straight punches, his hooks and uppercuts look incredibly sloppy and easily counter-able. If he wants to win this fight, he's gonna have to refrain from throwing for as long as possible. Maybe a body jab or right here and there, but he certainly shouldn't try throwing any fencer's lunges\straight lefts or rear uppercuts. Those leave him far too open to be countered by someone so skilled and dangerous.

If Corbett's plan is to sprint around the ring, clinch every time George tries throwing, while throwing very few punches at a time himself (like in the descriptions of his fight with Peter Jackson and early on with Sullivan), I think he has a better chance of beating George than anyone in his era.

 

Corbett was ko'd by one body shot from a 157lbs man.
Foreman was very good at cutting the ring off and hit like a truck, he was also extremely strong,Corbett would be rag dolled by George.
The first time he catches Corbett flush it is over.

 

I disagree,I think Johnson allowed Jeffries to expend his energy whilst taking no punishment himself.

 

Jeffries was down to weight 9 months before the fight. The difference here was he wasn't bulling a 40/50lbs lighter 12 years older man around, he was facing a man near his own size in his prime.