Corbett vs Foreman. 1893, 45 rounds

Foreman takes Corbett out in 30 seconds.

 

This fight will never go past round 1. Foreman takes his head clean off.

 

Just ask Roberto Davila, who went the full 8, Levi Forte, who went 10, Gregorio Peralta, who went 10, or Jimmy Young, who went 12. Even Ali had him gassed by covering up, grabbing, and sharpshooting here and there. Point is yes Foreman was a killer puncher and may very well have stopped Corbett, but nothing is a given in boxing, particularly against a defensive specialist. So IF George doesn’t get him out in the first 10 rounds, I think Corbett’s odds of success in a 45-round bout go up exponentially.

 

You think Corbett gets to those rounds ?

 

Does Foreman get a camp in which to work on the grappling techniques and styles of that era? He was strong, great at leverage, a great natural grappler for the eras in which he fought -- I assume given time to adapt, he'd be great at the early 1900s version of grappling. (side note, Ali was also a great natural grappler).

Otherwise he's in major trouble.

 

The 61 rounder was a KO to win that was stopped by the police. A lot of these silly round totals were a way of making it KO to win but where the fight doesn't go forever. Remember there wasn't a real judging system in place yet. And going these distances is a 2 way street.

The reason Foreman didn't go 15 is no one had a shot of going the distance with him until his 40s when 15 rounders were gone. He went 12 4 times in a row in his mid to late 40s. George Foreman was tired against Jimmy Young because he was fighting Jimmy Young. Corbett isn't Jimmy Young.

 

To be fair, shouldn't we also ask Frazier, Roman and Norton - who, combined, lasted less than 5 rounds with prime Foreman?

 

Styles! All of them were forward-moving guys who were there to be hit, and were not movers or clinchers.

Corbett had fast hands, was fleet footed, knew how to move his head, and clinched effectively. He was a defensive cutie, a safety first guy. Norton and Frazier were good at steadily coming coming forward on the attack with high volume but met a superb heavier handed attacker. Corbett’s style was designed to thwart the attacker. Totally different matchups. Ironically, I actually think Frazier and Norton would have an easier time defeating Corbett than Foreman.

 

Very good points being made all around!

 

I was reading In The Ring with John L. Sullivan and I came across an interesting excerpt on pages 429-430 that imo makes this matchup more spicy:

“On August 20 in Newark, New Jersey, Corbett engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling with McVey, who weighed 235 pounds to Corbett’s 188 pounds. Despite the size disparity, Corbett displayed his strength, “literally dragging the burly McVey all over the stage. In spite of this great exertion, Corbett was not even winded.””

One of the e biggest problems I thought Corbett had to deal with was controlling someone as big as Foreman in those clinches, but honestly ragdolling a 235 pound wrestler is good enough proof for me. I also found this excerpt from a newspaper analyzing Jackson-Corbett on page 405:

“Corbett developed a rare degree of cleverness, but his certainly favours the avoiding of blows than the delivering of them.”

 

Does Foreman have to wear a thong like Jim?

Honestly, if Corbett came along 100 years or so later he’d probably retire from the ring to become a fashionista — he’d make more money off the Gentleman Jim Man-Thong than George made on his grill.

Of course he’d be known as JJC.

 

Foreman didn't tire out as he got older, he was patient and still hit hard, Corbett never faced anyone like foreman, he fought jim jefferies twice, but Foreman was bigger, hit harder than Jeffries did. Foreman takes him out in 1 round.