Could Joe Louis Knock Out Foreman?

Bit harsh. Lyle coulda been regarded as a great fighter in other eras. Unfortunately for him he was fighting in the best era and had only peak losses to Quarry and Young on points and the Ali and Foreman KO's.

 

Doesn't much matter mate. The first two men defeated Foreman by boxing. The last name mentioned, decided to trade with him and was KO'd inside of 5 rounds despite having the advantage of facing a man who was off for 16 months. The stylistic dynamics are pretty well written in black and white.

I think that Foreman on the night he ripped the title out of Joe Frazier's arms would have a fairly good chance of beating Lyle inside of three rounds without as much of a fuss. If you think about it, the man defeats Joe Frazier, ices Ken Norton, then fights Muhammad Ali. He then takes 16 months off, only to come back and face a guy who granted was a top 5 contender but hardly with the same level of prestige. Plus you factor in the ring rust. Frankly, I think it would be a stretch to say that Lyle was fighting the very best rendering of Big George.

Well, in 81 professional fights, Foreman was never overpowered, outpunched, or dominated during an inside battle.. statistically the ods are not in Louis's favor to be truthful, but if you're a gambling man then knock yourself out mate.

And your original asertion was that he only had trouble with " small technical boxers. " Obviously this isn't the case, and I challenge you or anyone to tell me what puncher Louis ever fought who was more formidable than Foreman. Please don't try and fudge the subject by saying that Max and his brother Buddy fit the bill, because they clearly didn't. Foreman on the otherhand, won the lineal title on two occasions by legitimately destroying two undefeated left handed punchers in their primes, one of which coming at 45 years of age, the other when he was basically considred by many as nobody. He also proved his chin in the Moorer fight as Michael was hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink.

Absolutley, but again were some these crude sluggers better fighters than Foreman?

A single shot maybe, but Foreman hit hard in both hands and launched relentless attacks hitting fighters from all angles. He might have looked one dimensional, but he wasn't. He was far more dangerous than Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Tony Galento, or any of those men.
That is not out of the question.

That has never been proven. What has been established however, is that he was dropped on a multitude of occasions, and if he enters the ring against Foreman with the mentality that he's fighting a clumbsy oaf who's easy to hit and not be hit by, then he may not see his fate coming.

see the above statement.

obviously, as this actually did happen.

Are you honestly willing to apply this statement to a man who can wield raw power like its a nuclear warhead? We're talking about George Foreman here. This is a man who has the highest win/ko ratio in the division's history and utterly destroyed a fellow top 10 great in anialating fashion. I would ( and have ), paid a lot more than just a warm bucket of spit to see this man's power.

He was very impressive.

Yes, I see the direction in which you were coming from. But, I still think that Foreman's ability to pulvarize a man at close range with both hands, would be more detrimental to Louis than Galento's ability to sneak in a left hook here and there.

There are some things that never get accomplished within the course of a lifetime.

Louis had good fundamentals, but did not strike me as being a defensive master. He was very vulnerable to get hit, and was usually his ability to get men out of there early that sometimes prevented him from doing so, but not by strategically avoiding shots.

If he makes Foreman miss, he will punish him. If he gets hit though, he's in trouble.

If Foreman hurts Louis before Joe can get those combos off, it'll be an early night.

That's irrelevant. Your claim was that Foreman was knocked down many times in one fight and that Louis never was. I brought up the comparison to illustrate that the claim was incorrect. Incidentally, I will ad that Lyle was at least a natural heavyweight. Schmeling wasn't. Lyle was active prior to his meeting with Foreman. Schmeling wasn't. Additionally, had Lyle fought men like Young Stribling, Jack Sharkey, and Paulino Uzcudun, his record wouldn't have looked any worse then Schmeling's did. In fact, it would have been better given that he certainly wouldn't have lost a fight to a man like Gypsy Daniels, as well as having the luxury of not having to face Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Young, Goerge Foreman and Jerry Quarry.

Yet he won and Louis didn't. What difference does it make?

Agreed, Foreman was coming off a devastating loss and a 16 month layoff, yet destroyed a natural heavyweight despite a few rough moments. Louis was coming off 27 strait wins, fighting actively, had just beaten two former champs in their primes, yet got the livin' **** kicked out of him by a former lightheavyweight who was off 12 months, fighting on US soil during a time when it wasn't particularly advantages for a citizen of Germany to do so, and had only won 4 of his last 8 matches.

At least we can agree on something:good

 

Louis would give ground against the stronger Foreman. There would be no stalking by Joe in this fight.

The difference in this fight would begin with the jab. Foreman's jab was better than most, but Louis' is one of the best the sport has ever offered. Louis would out jab Foreman. Foreman would then be on the receiving end of accurate combinations by arguably the greatest offensive fighter of all time. I have no problem predicting Louis by ko.

 

talking of jabs.when big george was in that much mentioned slugfest with ron lyle. in the last round he hit lyle with at least six unanswered left jabs
before taking him out.
i don't know who mentioned dempsey, but come on,what about bold bendigo or jem mace.if athletes can run faster and jump higher what about boxers improving.
joe frazier would have ripped dempsey and tunney apart on the same night.tyson with his quick feet and great lateral movement would have had joe out in around or two.

 

The completely unorthodox style of Foreman would leave Louis in strife, inside 30 seconds of the first round. Round after round, Foreman would be a menacing wild swinger. I admire Louis greatly, although Foremans approach would be, IMO, a devestating setback for Louis.

Louis would have to survive 7 rounds before getting started.

 

The way I see it....George is at his bulldozing best in the early rounds...If you can weather that,and be disciplined with your shots and defence,you've got a good shot at beating George...Trouble is,I don't think Joe...the sweet puncher he was and slow of foot...could stay off George long enough to wear him out...

In a straight shootout early..George lifts up and KOs him...he was that strong...couple the fact that Joe was mid-distance fighter..and he's not too quick with his feet...the lowered guard...and I see disaster for The Brown Bomber...

IMO,his only chance is to lay one hard shot on George before george gets to him.And I just don't see that.

 

I think you underestimate Louis chin if you think 1 big swing would KO him.

To answer your question - I think Louis HAS got the power & technique to KO George (aswell as any HWT in history), the question is WOULD he get to George before George got to him, very interesting fight.

 

Dempsey: Nope

Liston: Yes


In addition: I think Foreman would destroy Marciano, but I'd favour Tyson to beat Foreman in a shootout.

 

By the way I'd pick Louis to stop Foreman mid-late rounds. Foreman is taylor made for him stylistically.

 

To condense matters down to the key points of contention.

 

foreman's best weapon was his right uppercut - that was the punch that destoyed frazier and norton.

 

Dempsey: Yes
Liston: Yes
Tyson: Yes
Marciano: Nope

 

I dont see why so many people are confident about foreman. The main stylistic criticisms of Louis are that he had trouble being crowded and trouble with the highly mobile boxer types. But sluggers like Foreman? Louis took guys like that apart and with ease. His shorter faster puches combined with his jab, counter punching, and power would give him a huge advantage against a fighter like Foreman.

 

exactly who did louis fight "like" foreman

 

I'm a minority in the poll, because I'm taking Louis by decision, whereas most seem to take one or the other via KO. I think George was too slow to KO Louis, but strong enough to get his respect. I also think Louis was smart enough and would respect George's power enough not to mix it up with him more than he had to, and would therefore use his superior speed and skill to box him. Louis could move a bit if he had to, and I think overall he would fight as an intelligent counterpuncher in this one. Foreman though, was tough enough to take what Joe had and would go the route, clubbing away, maybe even dropping Joe at some point, and maybe even getting dropped himself.

However, if the question is COULD Louis KO Foreman, yes, he could have, and vice versa. Both guys had the power to do each other, and both had a general natural disposition towards fighting.