Foreman vs Ike/Tua

We know that 70s Foreman got floored by Jimmy Young and knocked out by Muhammad Ali, that should be "evidence" enough that he wouldn't be able to take the punches of bigger, stronger, harder hitting men like Ibeabuchi or Tua. Anybody that beat the best versions of Tua and Byrd is not unproven.
Norton was not a match for Jose Luis Garcia (Norton did "avenge" this one when JLG was just fighting for a check), Earnie Shavers, or Gerry Cooney either, he wouldn't do any better against Ibeabuchi or Tua.

 

Yes I get that punch for punch Tua and Ike hit harder than Young and Ali. The difference was those two had the smarts to frustrate and neutralise Foreman enough to make better effect with less. So whilst you are correct, the situation is the more important element here. I suggest that both Ike and Tua are far easier for Foreman to hit than Young and Ali. You can’t let Foreman get that many free shots as they would by comparison to Young and Ali, those two got George tired. Nothing shows us Ike and Tua would. Perhaps Tua could crowd and smother but I’m not sure or certain he was smart enough.

the best wins Tua and Byrd had were after Ike fought them. Shannon Briggs, maskiev, Ruiz And Rahman all lost fights before winning titles or scoring important wins too. We can’t round up the first guy to beat Shannon Briggs or Rahman and say those guys were proven.

well at least I would put Cooney, Ibeabuchi, Tua, Norton and Shavers all into the same non champion category. But in doing so one might also suggest these famous non champions might just as easily win and lose against one another seeing as they are one level. Which is something Norton proved with Garcia anyway.

 

Foreman - Lyle, but the the opposite result. Foreman succumbs in 3rd or 4th round.

 

Ike had 15-20 lbs more than Foreman with lower body fat. It is safe to assume he was stronger than Foreman or at least equally strong which is bad news for Foreman since he relied heavily on strength advantage over his opponents.

 

The Young kd was a flash knockdown and George was up without a count.Foreman fell as much from exhaustion as the punch when Ali beat him,Foreman took the punches of Holyfield,Morrison,Cooney, Briggs, and Stewart without going down and he was an old man then.

 

Old Man Foreman beats Tua easily with his jab. He would move the little fella back taking away not only his leverage but also his fragile confidence. Old George would pick his spots to place there uppercuts and sneaky hooks. Tua would have a choice to go the distance or not. It's up to him. As long as he doesn't open up to much he may see the end of the fight.

Young Foreman does the same basic thing but with much more quickness and intensity. David would wish he was playing Patty Cake with Ike after sampling a few of Big George's adult jabs.
Ya just can't call timeout at this point. Throwing 1 big hook every 20 or 30 seconds isn't gonna deter crazy ass Foreman.
I don't see Tua getting up more than once .

 

Ike had more tools. He may have more than many of us think or he may have less. He's like a prospect suspended in time.

 

We don’t know that Ike was stronger just because he was heavier. We do know that boxing is not a power sport. It is possible a man can have more actual physical strength without utilising it in a boxing sense. Muhammad Ali for instance was reckoned to have been one of the strongest men the Mayo clinic tested but you would not know that from watching him fight.

One thing is for sure Foreman did utilise his strength into a boxing sense. although no doubt, there are power lifters who would be stronger than Foreman who will never be able to box. To this day, nobody has seen a championship fighter appear so physically strong in a boxing ring as Foreman did.

Sure Ike looked strong slapping around Byrd. For all that, I don’t think he looked noticeably stronger than Tua. For sure Tua was strong but he was not man handling people around like Foreman was he?

 

It's safe to say that George Foreman was a bit stronger than your typical 220lb boxer. What he was able to do In the 90s may be a clue that he was a once in a generation powerhouse.

 

Yes I will go along with that.

 

I agree. There are football players who may be able to out squat him or out bench him who wouldn't want to match punching power. His power was uncommon.

 

Foreman was a freak of nature. First of all, foreman ali and Norton followed the old school method of cutting weight and "drying out". Norton and Ali said in an interview on a talk show host that they walk around at 225-230 lbs and had to run 7 or more miles a day to get down to what their trainers thought was their "ideal" fighting weights.

The fact Foreman was 230 lbs as a 19 year old and used the same extreme cutting methods as ali and norton indicates he was a HUGE guy when walking around and when he rehydrated. Thats the real reason he looked so big compared to his opponents: a heavyweight using the diet habits of modern lightweights and middleweights.

Now when you consider Ron Lyle would do 1,000 pushups a day in prison because he was "bored" and yet he couldnt outmuscle Foreman...what does that tell you about how strong Foreman must have been? Foreman never got outmuscled and never took a step back, on film and in his own words.

The idea Ike would outmuscle him requires evidence that isnt available.

As for Ike supposedly having more stamina, I must repeat Ike went the 12 round distance once and only had 20 fights. That simply isnt enough evidence. People actually picking Ike purely based on the size/modern evolution/nutrition angle and not breaking down the actual matchup are being disingenuous.

 

The strength Foreman had was specific to boxing. He was a boxing powerhouse. It was relative to how he used his feet and coordinated it for boxing. Heavy hands too. Just could walk anybody down in a boxing ring.

You might get a heavier guy who can lift more who couldn’t walk through preliminary fighters. George walked through world class fighters.

 

Maybe you mean...could Ike and David together beat George ?

I'd say, probably.


Individually ?

No, neither one of them.

George could do both on the same evening.