George Foreman v Roy tiger Williams in 76 ,,,

Foreman murders him. Williams may be big but he's got little power and his main punch is a good jab, which I don't think will be enough to hold Foreman off. He's got cement feet and his defence consists of holding his gloves up far apart on either side of his face. He's very hittable, and to the body too. He's tough, but I can't see how he beats Foreman who will absolutely tee off on him and receive little heavy fire back in return. Maybe he could eat so many punches that Foreman gasses out? I'd bet on him getting flattened before that.

 

Yes even a "going off" Foreman would still be too hard hitting for the likes of Roy Williams - competent fighter as he was. The way to beat George Foreman was to outbox and outlast him. You were never going to beat him in a slugfest.

 

I'd bet on Roy Williams, especially if he was given time to train for the fight. I've only seen RW on video against Holmes and Shavers, but in those fights he shows he can box and has a good hook along with the jab and cross. He also seems to have good stamina. Williams reminds me of a bigger, stronger, harder hitting Jimmy Young. He was picking off/slipping Larry Holmes' jab, can't see GF's getting through. Doubt GF stops RW early, and RW can go the distance effectively.

GF's boxing improved under Clancy, and with more discipline his stamina improved too, but I don't think he could go the distance in a fight like the Holmes vs. Williams fight. RW would be fighting the best version of 70s GF if he fought the Gil Clancy trained version, but I'd still take RW, probably by stopping GF, if not a wide decision over a tiring, flailing GF. Each time I watch the RW - LH video, I feel more and more confident in picking RW over GF.

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LOL I drew the opposite conclusion from that video. But, nice analysis its always good to look at something from two perspectives.

 

Foreman batters him and stops him on his feet late, Williams was durable, but sort of limited.

 

Foreman around 5 rounds.

 

Williams was best known for sparring exploits that never translated to the real thing. Foreman would knock him out. Tiger did make some pretty scary sound effects tho.

 

Just how I saw the two fights (Williams-Holmes vs Williams-Shavers), it’s interesting that Williams’ expressly applied jab gave the premier jabber Holmes some trouble during their fight.

However, when he faced Shavers, Williams didn’t accent on his jab so much - it might’ve made his life a bit easier against Earnie if he had jabbed more.

 

I think this would be a bit of a test for Foreman and certainly no walkover Williams was 6'5 230+ pounds that's a big Heavyweight for that era. Williams was also pretty durable and whilst he doesn't have the quality to actually beat Foreman, i think he could extend Foreman into 2nd half of the fight and make Foreman work for the win not a pushover for Foreman i don't think.

 

Good post. My take away is that Williams did not have much footwork at all. If the opponent wanted to fight at range like Holmes, then that's where it went down. If the opponent wanted to crowd him like Shavers, then it was a phone booth fight. I agree that his jab was good, maybe excellent.

 

I hear you that Shavers go forward aggression might’ve stifled Williams use of the jab to some extent - but I seem to recall periods when Tiger could’ve used the jab more than he did - it’s been a while since I watched the fight.

Tiger is one guy I’d love to be tracked down for an IV. He kinda just disappeared from boxing - became a singer for a band I believe.

Could he be as good a vocalist as Frazier or Holmes? I would say there’s a good chance he couldn’t be worse - lol.

 

Williams was knocked out by the 6'0 Shavers. I don't think Foreman would have any trouble with Williams size. Foreman takes heavy punches but doesn’t go down. Foreman by KO in the 4th or 5th round.

 

Not a whole lot different than when George took on Dennis.

 

Frazier and Lyle fell, Williams would fall too.
Foreman is Fighter of the Year; in 1976.