Foreman, yes he could walk onto something, but I feel his physicality would overwhelm Louis who wasn’t particularly fleet of foot, only guys who beat Foreman implemented hit and run tactics, something which wasn’t Louis’ area of expertise, not saying he couldn’t fight on the backfoot, but don’t think he has enough in that area to stay away from Foreman, he’d have to rely on timing Foreman with something and at some point he would have to mix it up with him as he doesn’t have enough footwork to stay away for the distance, or to take it late and stop him, he would inevitably have to mix it up and that’s where he gets levelled, Foreman would use his grappling tactics to make sure Louis doesn’t catch him and to keep him off balance so he can’t get power in the punches, they Foreman would slip some huge punches in.
This is Foreman's fight to lose. His greatest asset is his offence, obviously. Uncanny power from shots that looked like nothing, great finisher, good ring cutter, and knew how to put people in positions to land his shots. That said, he wasn't all that good defensively, couldn't exactly pace himself, and was far from the brightest tool in the shed. Louis relied on people coming to him and entering his kill zone. Foreman being a stalker isn't exactly going to help him here, because Louis is just the superior puncher, and has a chin good enough to survive enough of Foreman's shots without being finished off right off the bat. The same thing that happened to Baer will happen to Foreman if he is to catch him with a good shot. He just gets Joe's attention and proceeds to lose the punching exchange because Louis just throws better, shorter, more compact and equally powerful shots. No puncher that throws wild swings like Foreman wins out in a punching exchange against Louis. No one.
Foreman isn't overwhelming Louis, the inverse is more probable. You underestimate Louis' footwork and ability to back up. Watch the Baer fight, Louis would follow the same blueprint for this one. Relentlessly jab, step back, step in, jab, step back to the side, repeat until he gets an opening for a body blow or a hook/uppercut/cross combination. Louis will be the faster moving man in there, make no question about it. The misconception that Louis was slow comes from the fact that he was always the one stalking and hunting his opponent, and while doing that he never moved forward with any significant speed because that's when his opponent's punches would be most impactful. The best boxers always advanced forward with a slow speed and relied on cutting off the ring. No one will call Holmes slow yet he never skipped forward the same way he danced backwards or sideways, he always advanced methodically. If Foreman gets Louis into a corner for an exchange, Louis' accuracy, hand speed and combinations will make him the victor more often than not.
These are my top 2. Part of why I have Foreman number 1 is how terrible a matchup for Louis Foreman is H2H. Louis could not deal with Foremans combination of power and durability. Louis doesn't have the chin to avoid getting knocked down by Foreman but Foreman damm well has the chin to survive Louis. This is a mix Louis simply can't deal with. Louis recovered from a knockdown right away and then took his opponent out quick. Against Foreman thats not happening. And if it doesn't happen hes not going to outpoint Foreman who has 10-8 rounds. The formula for beating Foreman is having a great chin and outboxing George like Jimmy Young did. "Rope a dope" doesn't work if Louis goes down and George doesn't get frustrated. The Ali KO isn't really replicatable but the archetype of the sort of guy who beats him is, a durable point fighter. Thats not Louis hes trying to knock his opponent out and if his opponent can hurt him he wins the firefight. He can't do that against George. Louis is toast. He can win some rounds and hes a more skilled boxer than George hes not Ali or Jimmy Young and if he were if he can't keep off the canvas it doesn't matter. Under the modern ruleset Louis would not have outpointed Jersey Joe Walcott whose power is overrated. In the other cases he either lost to Schmeling or got the KO the fight never went to scorecards and if it had it would have been cancelled out by Louis's knockdowns. Guys who knocked Louis down include Braddock, Buddy Baer, Schmeling, Walcott and Tony Galento. Coming back from a knockdown against this group is a very different beast than Foreman. To the contrary Foreman proved he was near indestructible going 12 his last 4 fights in his mid 40s. Foreman was able to win 4 or 5 rounds against the very best version of Holyfield at 42. On the other hand Louis had 3 10+ round decisions struggled in all 3. Louis needs to get Foreman out quick more than Foreman needs to get Louis out.
Baer was around the same size as Louis and Louis was on the front foot for a lot of that fight, or he was boxing him in the middle of the ring, he couldn’t do that to Foreman, to beat Foreman you must get on your bike, Louis would have to beat Foreman in a shootout or walk him into something, something I don’t see happening on most occasions, when it becomes a shootout, Foreman will use his grappling tactics which would work due to his size, to keep Louis off balance so he can’t land or get any power on his punches, he’d control it up close, he’d be able to Ragdoll him and dictate when he can work and when he wants to get punches off.
Foreman never fought someone like Louis; he would be the most skilled and accurate puncher he’d faced, who would exploit his flaws like nobody else had. Louis ends it early, he’s a bad style matchup for Big George.
Louis would feel George’s power but he was too skilled for George. People are forever dismissing Louis’ skills retroactively. But I will toss in my usual caveat: No one would bat 1.000 in a sustained series between the two.
Louis takes George out. His killer instinct, recovering abilities, and combinations were something else.
I think Louis would hit Foreman with a couple counter right hands and make Foreman think twice about charging in recklessly, we are forgetting the accuracy and power of Louis here. Louis made Buddy Baer do a 360 as he fell and lifted Tony Galento off of the canvas with a left hook. And both weighed more than Foreman. I think Foreman has the tools to beat Louis, but i dont quite know if hed put it together for the night. Hed have to be patient. He is a good deal more durable than Louis, at least. Louis is very capable of losing this. I'd say pretty 50/50, maybe slight edge to Louis. Louis has dealt with physical freaks before. But Foreman never fought a Joe Louis.
