Foreman explains the difference in his punching strategy from his first career to his second. https://streamable.com/qpmok
This is just something you can get away with saying to somebody who didn't box. George hit everybody as hard as he could, it's what he trained to do. His job. Anger doesn't come into it. Once a fighter develops the ability to follow through with his punches it becomes instinctive. First time around he was more bad ass. Hitting guys on the floor, pushing and all that stuff. But that's just what he wanted to protect at that time. He decided it was wasted energy. When he hit Cooney he was still aiming to put the guys head through the roof just like he did back in the day. George Was still loading up on the shots but with such heavy arms and with all that weight advantage (he was always sure to have) he did relax somewhat and vary the force. But It had nothing to do with being a nicer guy. It was to help him get through without gassing out.
He did change his style. Its obvious, he even motions for the ref to stop it in some cases (qawi). He rarely "swung for the fences" and put all his body weight and power behind his shots in his 2nd career. He was far more patient, methodical, and broke his opponents down slowly if he couldnt blast them out the first two rounds. He also started pawing away and throwing light punches to lull his opponent into a false sense of security to save for one big bomb (its how he won the title against moore). This way they wouldnt know exactly how hard he could hit until ot was too late.
IMO you're mistaking him not having the stamina/energy as he did before to him not trying to throw punches as hard. He was just simply more conservative in his approach, but that is the same as him intentionally not trying to hit as hard. That is complete bs.
This is definitely not true. A puncher like Foreman can easily control his power. He can throw short hard shots, or can load up for something much bigger. You could see it in he way he loaded up on punches in the Roman fight. Joe Louis said he never hit someone with his hardest punch. And anger definitely plays a role. Liston, Tyson, and Foreman all used anger to "power through" their fights, intimidate opponents, and most of all to give themselves courage. The kind of anger Foreman had in his first career is non sustainable for a grown 40 year old man. Old Foreman was still angry, but much less. He was calmer, more measured, and boxed much more.
Or course Louis never threw his hardest punch, as the opportunity in which he'd be able to land it would be extremely rare. If you think Foreman and Louis are exerting every iota into each punch, something almost no fighter does, ydksab. There are punches you can throw in training that you can't get away with in the ring, especially if you want to "box." Foreman took way more risks in his early career loading up on punches. He left himself more open, but was throwing harder punches. Look at the final Frazier punch. In his second career, he never squared up and loaded that far back. He became far more measured and tactical at the expense of loading up for more power. Why would you assume that Foreman hit as hard as he could? Especially when he himself says he didn't? What basis do you have, and why would you know better than him?
You are 100% SPECULATING Rez, and I don't have time for such silly, unsubstantiated speculation. Now you're trying to tell me you know they weren't, when you have no way of knowing. Shoot, scientifically neither do they, they would simply be going by how it "felt", which is hardly scientific to say the least. The point is, we are talking about a sport where the entire premise is, hit somebody as hard and fast as you can while also not getting hit. Yet here, you expect me to believe Louis was INTENTIONALLY holding back, while his foe was trying to knock his head off. Please, forgive me for saying this, but that utterly ******ed. Nobody is claiming he punched at his full power ALL the time or even most of the time. What I am saying with 100% certainty is, at some point he did throw a punch with all his power and I blatantly laugh at any premise of.. I NEVER hit with all my power.
Lol, you say speculation, and then spew this garbage? It's your illogical argument versus Foremans word. He has 1000x the credibility that you have on this matter. It's common sense. You can always load up on your punches more, and to the point where it doesn't make sense to throw in an actual fight. It's not about holding back your power just for the sake of it. It's the fact that the opportunity almost never presents itself to punch as hard as you can. A very rare exception might be Durans KO over Bizarro, because the ref allowed a lifeless corpse to stand across Duran. Have you ever trained at a gym? Do you not understand the concept of loading up too much? Foremans hardest punch would look comical in an actual fight. It would take him longer to just set his footing for his hardest punch, than it took throw the final Frazier KO punch. You don't get the luxury to set up you biggest punches in a fight. And if you happen to go for it, you are taking a huge risk just to do some more damage to someone who will get knocked out anyway with a lighter punch. It's rare enough to hit a heavybag as hard as you can, lol. "He's lying! I know for a fact he punched as hard as he can!" lolol
I actually fully agree with Foreman here. Prime George had that killer instinct found in the most viscous of punchers. He was out to kill opponents with every blow. Old Foreman had a more measured less aggressive approach.
There are two types of punchers. Those who are trying for the knockout and those who don't. A good example is George Foreman and Joe Louis respectively. Foreman tried to just beat the opponent down and didn't care too much for trying to set them up with feints and combinations like the other type. Joe Louis was more concerned with accuracy and timing rather than just hitting his opponent as hard as he could.
LMAO... So you offer NOTHING in the form of proof other then... I believe Foreman LMAO. You do realize he's said stuff that he's 100% lied about. He's admitted he's lied about stuff. Yet here, it MUST be a 100% true. It's ludicrous to assume that. Second, we aren't even discussing whether Foreman did or didn't, we are discussing YOUR statement that Louis SAID he NEVER hit someone as hard as he could. That is total bs by him and total speculation by you. If you have proof of it, post it, if not, you should STFU would nonsense about me being illogical. Your whole argument is based on a fallacy and wanting me to prove a negative. Doesn't work that way sport. The burden of proof lies directly with you, not the other way around. Nobody is claiming he hit as hard as he could all the time. What I am saying with certainty is, he punched as hard as he could at various points throughout his career. Now, before you say, well, Joe Louis said is... Should I also post Joe Louis saying he kept some of his opinions and truths to himself because he didn't want to cause any backlash from "white America" His own manager/promoter talks about managing what he said. He specifically didn't want him coming across as somebody who was trying to hurt somebody in the ring or viscous. This sounds about par for the course for what might say. Now either offer proof for such a nonsensical bs statement or I'll accept your concession on the matter.
