Foreman v Tunney 15 rounds.

Peralta demonstrated twice that Tunney would not have been too small to compete with Foreman and extend him. Given the maximum 24 foot ring, Tunney would have had the intelligence, toughness, durability and conditioning to move and evade George for 15 rounds and secure the decision going away in the championship rounds. Gene would have enjoyed huge advantages in speed, mobility, championship round experience and stamina. He could also recover quickly and well if hurt, while Foreman was never the greatest of finishers. (He failed to stop Young after hurting Jimmy early in round seven, and he was wasting a lot of punches expending himself after stunning Chuvalo, who looked like he was riding out the storm until getting betrayed by his panicked wife Lynn and manager Irving Ungerman.)

This would be a pretty comfortable UD win for Tunney, who would have analyzed Foreman carefully, and countered George's ring cutting skill by circling right and fully utilizing the large ring size being stipulated for this thread. George, especially when young, was a wide open target, and Tunney was one of the fastest HW champions of all time, as well as one of the toughest.

 

This is a good post that needs to be to be contemplated ,but I disagree, on one point.I think Chuvalo would probably be dribbling into his breakfast now if that fight had not been stopped.

 

The ending of Foreman-Chuvalo will be debated as long as there are fans of the sport. My view is that Chuvalo was occasionally punching back in response, Foreman was wasting a lot of punches, and that Chuvalo was perfectly lucid in the post fight interview, hardly a precursor of Starling after Molinares. I would have kept trust in Arthur Mecante's judgment, but when he spotted Ungerman climbing the ring steps to signal his concession, he obviously had no choice but to acquiesce in deference to Chuvalo's corner.

 

I don't think Tunney could avoid Foreman forever. Foreman was good at cutting the ring off. The bodyshots Ali took, would almost certainly fold the much smaller Tunney. I also don't think Tunney can grapple and hold Foreman, because Tunney wasn't as strong as Ali and didn't have the punching power.

 

Styles make fights and tunney was a great fighter,and a hard match for george, he would run from foreman during all the fight, probably he would be winning on the cards. But i think that foreman would catch him finally, like he did against peralta.foreman did cut the ring pretty well and it is a factor, obviously it would be a good fight.

 

Fascinating matchup!

I'm not quite ready to jump on Gene's wagon with the good Duo, though, just yet:

a) This can never be a "pretty comfortable" win for Gene, any way you slice it. This is George Foreman we're talking! Gene will suffer, he will be tagged --quite possibly as never before--, and very possibly will have no choice but to succumb.

b) Remember that Ali, whose toughness is universally respected and must be considered greater than the tough Marine's, himself barely survived a prematurely gassed Foreman.

c) Tunney cannot win by just running for 15 rounds; he must engage to score points and when he does, he will be in range for Foreman's counters. Gene's reach is three inches shorter than Ali's.

d) No matter how large the ring, Foreman cut it off very well, catching up to Ali within the second minute of battle. Gene may very well find nowhere to hide.

e) Foreman fought foolish in Zaire because Ali's rope-a-dope got his goat. Tunney will not --must not-- try to rope this dope. George need not punch himself out here. He would know of the opponent and prepare in stamina certainly for more than a few rounds. Gene would not likely make George want to take his head off. George can control the fight with his good jab and probe for the opening for the H-bombs.

f) Foreman may very well simply walk into Tunney and blow him out. Will Gene have the heavyweight punch to win Foreman's respect and keep him off early on? I'm not sure I can see it.

g) I like George.

 

Gene Tunney was the prototype of Muhammad Ali. Enough said.

 

This is the other , equally plausible scenario , though Tunney was an underated hitter imo.

 

I would say Jimmy Slattery fit that template better than Tunney.

 

Peralta had nothing like the mobility of Tunney,nor the handspeed.

 

Tunney was capable of pulling off the upset.

 

People should not underestimate Gene tunney's strength. Though not a 200 pounder gene was deceptively strong. Notice in the Dempsey fights, when in close, Gene tied up old Dempsey often..If a prime Tunney can get past the sixth round, he would have a very good chance against the powerful
punching Foreman, who would fade in the later rounds. Tunney was a
sharp cutting puncher. Gene would have a much better chance against a George Foreman , than a Joe Louis who punched even faster than Gene did, with much more power...Speed does kill...