Foreman struggling with Peralta leaves me unsatisfied

Holmes would've been all wrong for George, I think. I think George thought so too. But it didn't have anything to do with the Peralta fight. George hadn't really fought anyone that could season him the way Peralta good. Peralta was a good, good fighter. Savvy, tough, perfect to test a guy like Foreman, coming up. That fight doesn't say too much about George, really. You might as well judge Tyson from Tillis. And Foreman nearly died after Young. I don't know when people are going to start grasping that.

 

I pretty much agree with this.

Competent, crafty trial horses always come along and bother up and coming fighters at some point, its a part of the process.

Tyson and Tillis, Foreman and Peralta, Doug Jones and Ali(Though Jones was better then a trial horse, being a contender in his own right, off and on).

But, Holmes still would have beaten Foreman. The jab, the counter right hands, and the sound lateral movement accompanied with the crazy grit, toughness, and determination seal it.

 

Foreman was a young inexperienced fighter when he fought Peralta,think it was his 9th fight and he was only 21 at the time,in His prime George would have been to strong and Tough for Holmes,Big George suffered one TKO in an 80 Fight career and retired at a ripe old age of 49,definately one of a few ATG Heavyweights in my opinion.!!!!

 

Aye. And Holmes always wanted that fight very badly. He's still bitter (I know, big surprise, subject considering) about Foreman's success and riches and ranking and the regard for the Moorer win. He wanted Foreman to give him a golden oldies big money showdown, because he figured he had every thing to match up well with him. That fight would've brought good money too. But, I think Foreman knew it wouldn't have done him any good to drop one to another old contender.

 

I'm also reasonably sure that George disliked Larry.

Probably didn't want to do him the favor, he was half the draw.

 

Ive been thinking about the Peralta fight alot lately. Its been on tv weekly
On MSG. Anyway spot on Magna. Tyson didnt look good against Tillis, Bowe
against Tubbs, etc. Foreman vs Holmes is interesting. I think Larry is too slick
to get caught against the ropes Holmes UD. Larry could be stopped but
Foreman wasnt Tyson.

 

Peralta bumaye!

 

Imagine if that was a 200 lb James Toney in there instead of Peralta. Foreman gets viciously clowned, dropped, and stopped. Yeah, I said it.

 

Yeah, but he fought a lot of cruiserweight bums and avoided good boxers like the plague.

 

Larry Holmes had the pertinent array of skills and essential attributes to defeat George Foreman. But I'd prefer to look at Foreman's bout with Muhammad Ali to confirm this and not his outings with Peralta or Young. It still would have taken a great boxer of exceptional ability and stamina to beat George Foreman, and the said performances were not the best showcase of George's qualities. One of those lackluster displays was a lack of experience issue, while the other had to do with bad preparation poor mental resolve, and managerial issues in his corner ( not to mention, Jimmy Young was actually a hell of a good fighter.)

 

It cut both ways, George struggled with Peralta in fight one and even in the 2nd fight the ref did George a favor stopping the fight with Peralta doing the rope a dope...Holmes though could be caught with the right hand and George could nail him from round 1-8 but I think after that George starts to gas if Larry makes him fight....I know Larry get stopped a few times in the amateurs and went down vs Snipes and Shavers so George could hurt Larry....Ali made George gas but can Larry fight the same fight as Ali and not get caught or be as defensive as Young without getting hit....George did not want to give Larry the payday because of Larry big mouth and George had more to lose than to gain...George was looking for a big money fight vs Tyson and Holmes had already been blasted out by Mike so George was looking for bigger and better things

 

Yes George struggled a lot here, but as other have said virtually every elite boxer struggles against someone at some point in their ascent. Marciano had Lowry, who for all his quirky ability and survival skills wasn't as credentialed as Peralta. And I think Dempsey's repeated struggles with Willie Meehan are far more damning than Foreman-Peralta if you're going to look at it like that. Throw in Ali vs Jones and Sonny Banks, or Floyd Patterson against Maxim. Those fights are important learning experiences.

The important thing is that Foreman learned his lesson, improved, and then beat Peralta far more decisively and went on to score amazing victories which are more indicative of his historical standing.

And if we're going to tarnish champs based on struggles why not mention Holmes' scare against Witherspoon. In my opinion that fight is more of an indictment on Holmes than Foreman-Peralta, since Holmes was supposed to be within fight or two of his prime, though some will manipulate that timeline to suit their agenda. The bottom line: I don't remember Foreman getting badly rocked while struggling to a controversial decision over a novice with 15/16 fights when he was in his prime.

 

Great Post.!!!

 

Joe Frazier was world champion and Foreman destroyed him. So what if he struggled with Peralta ? He beat him clear enough.

I think getting knocked down while losing to Jimmy Young is the real blemish on Foreman's record.
But everyone knows that. Foreman went into a deep retirement because of it, or maybe he was already looking to get out of boxing going in to the fight. Either way it was a pitiful performance.