Foreman - As Bad Against Boxers As Norton Was Against Punchers?

Unfortunately, the entirety of Foreman-Denis is not on youtube at
the moment, but coming between Ali and Young, this is probably
George's best performance against a box and move stylist.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqPgLQxottU[/ame]

 

Well, that one time with Denis, a big, tall, undefeated cutie, he seemed all right. Jimmy Young was in an entirely different class, but what he showed against Denis suggests it can't be conveniently generalized that a quality stylist would automatically be always be his poison. We really needed to see the youthful Foreman compete more against this style of opponent.

Denis is what probably convinced Foreman, Clancy and company to take on Young. Ultimately, Foreman-Denis is an overlooked performance in George's career, and I do think that bout is the margin by which Foreman's resume against boxers surpasses that of Norton against punchers. Foreman-Bugner would have been interesting after Young-Foreman, and I believe George could have registered his first 12 round decision over Joe.

 

I think we should consider the Peralta fight too.

 

Young George was often obscenely wide and arcing with his punches, leaving himself badly exposed. This is something a slick counterpuncher could feast on. Throw in that questionable stamina and GF may very well be in trouble against some of the more talented boxers in heavyweight history, champions or contenders.

 

Tough question since he only met two class boxers in his prime. But I think his lack of balance and technique would leave him vulnerable to many technical boxers. He was very good at cutting the ring down, though, something he seemed to forget to do against Young.

Liston with Foreman's ability to cut the ring down would be a truly fearsome prospect.

 

Foreman-Peralta I is on youtube (as are Goyo's first wins over Thornton and Pastrano in 1963 leading up to his title shot at Willie), but George's NABF Title rematch with Greg would be the more revealing viewing of these two ten round tiffs.

 

I think a solid chin nullify s Foreman strength and of-course a chin he can not hit. A prime Foreman did not have stamina and from the Lyle fight (the one Puncher he faced) up to that point he could be hurt and hit by a puncher ( Lyle was better than average) The Ali and Young fight show that George could be gassed out of a fight

George still had a lot of POWER and his best lies between his physical prime - career 1 and his stylistic prime - career 2

 

A lot of the thing about Foreman's performances against 'boxers' is based on how he did against Ali and Young. He was very much work in progress in the Peralta fights,especially the first one. Muhammad was The Greatest,and Jimmy was a very slick stylist. Foreman was still in his physical prime,when he fought Young,but his mind was n't right. I believe it's a myth that George would lose against all artful boxing types. I'd back him to beat Gene Tunney,for example.

 

A quick boxer with, some reach, a good chin, and solid defense was a formula for disaster for Foreman. These types are seldom caught in the early rounds. Foreman hit a ton, but his poise and power tended to evaporate as the rounds press on.

If Lyle opted to box a bit more rather than trade, he very well could have upset Foreman.

Foreman did his best work fighters who lacked footwork and mobility, or with fighters who opted to trade or could not fight moving backward.

 

I dont think it is at all comparable to Kenny Norton vs punchers. Foreman still had the ability to close off the ring and throw some bombs and he could potentialy do this to most grade B boxers.

 

As is the case with Norton against punchers, Foreman was not all together terrible against boxers, but the greatest of the lot would always give him head aches.

He did outpoint and later stop Peralta, who was a clever jabber that Bonavena and Ron Lyle couldn't easily solve. The sheer power and strength of the man, as well as his ability to cut off the ring in his younger days, would overwhelm most boxers, but the likes of Ali and Young weren't going to be taken out with pure power as they had handled big punchers before.