George Foreman vs these slick boxers

I pick Fury and Holmes to beat him, but I think Foreman has a better chance of beating Holmes than Fury.

I don't think any others have a good chance, but Byrd definitely isn't third in the runnings.

 

Agree with you that Byrd gets KO'ed by Foreman but the injury which caused Vitali to quit happened during the fight not before and it wasn't a random, fluke injury either, it was the same shoulder injury that Holyfield sustained when he fought Byrd by being made to miss and overextending his punches. Byrd's style caused the injuries, they weren't random.

 

Holmes avoided Foreman in 1976. That is well documented.

 

Obviously Holmes has the best chance, then Fury. They'd be a favorite against Prime Foreman in my book.

 

Well for one, it's the type of injury that meant they should have had a rematch since it was such a freak occurance, regardless of if it was due to Byrd's slippery style causing Vitali to over extend. To be fair to Byrd, he did try to get a rematch but for whatever reason Vitali never pursued it despite his rabid fanboys acting like he had the match in the bag and "would have won".

Stylistically Foreman does not resemble Vitali other than being heavy handed guys who imposed their size. Vitlai liked to throw mostly straight punches and maintain his reach advantage on the outside, swaying to avoid blows. Foreman got right in your grill constantly walking you down, hence the "mummy" nick name. Foreman's specialty was throwing looping crushing hooks and uppercuts and was better at mid range. He was also, shockingly, much more methodical than Vitlai and knew how to time and break guys down despite his reputation as a slugger. He was also a great body puncher and could cut off the ring.

I just don't see Foreman getting outfoxed the way the much shorter stubby armed Tua did or overextending his arms swinging and missing the way Vitali did. He was quite different from both and way better at pursuing a moving target. Outside of Foreman gassing out from being too eager, I think it would just be a matter of time before all the murderous body shots and jabs took their toll and Foreman's clubbing blows eventually find their mark as Byrd slows down and brings his arms down to survive.

 

Holmes has the best chance at first glance but he is not someone I’d bet on to beat George- and as for Fury as strange as it sounds and as much flack as I may get to me is relatively unproven to be put in the class of Foreman in my eyes.

If I had to pick one with perfect circumstances on their best night it would be Walcott if he doesn’t tempt fate too many times he could pick up a decision in my opinion.

 

Yes you are right. I wouldn't pick him to win either but there's a reasonable chance, based on Foreman blowing himself out against other opponents, that he might exhaust himself trying to nail the slippery lil' devil and leave himself open to getting finished. Then again, there's also the Ibeabuchi scenario....

 

Byrd gets slaughtered

 

I always thought Holmes beat Foreman with a few shaky moments a long the way

 

I take the Foreman of up to and including the Ali fight to beat the lot. I think Holmes would be the best chance of surviving the early rounds and making things interesting. I wouldn't back it tho.

 

First time we agree in months ...

 

He knocks them all out except Byrd who stops him.

 

Suppose you could say Holmes "avoided" everybody in 1976, Holmes broke his hand in his first "step up" fight in April of 1976 against Roy Williams, then couldn't fight again until 1977.

 

Don King mentioned how Holmes's people admitted he couldn't beat Foreman in 1976 even before the broken hand. Holmes and his team did not want that fight.

 

Lots of things are said by lots of people in boxing, I don't put much credence in any of it unless I know the person and I know the context. If you read the Mailer book about the Ali - Foreman fight, Ali says that Roy Williams is bigger, better, punches harder, etc. than George Foreman. Who knows? Williams does look good on video, especially for a guy who fought without benefit of full training camps.

I suspect that if Holmes had the choice of fighting the big and dangerous Williams on an undercard or fighting Foreman in a televised main event, he'd pick the Foreman fight. I would be skeptical if anybody told me that Holmes had been offered a fight with Foreman and turned it down and then took one with Williams for less money.