Hot take, Foreman improved after the Muhammad Ali fight

Young’s whole career might not reflect his true worth when at his best.

However, he did beat Foreman and Lyle twice (with ease), was KO’d by Shavers when green but arguably beat Earnie in the rematch notwithstanding the draw verdict.

Some also argue that he beat both Ali and Norton.

Young was THE ultimate spoiler and I don’t think that he is necessarily overrated when viewed in reasonable balance.

Boring as bat excrement to watch in my book but you still have to give credit where it is due.

If Young is deemed to have exposed some major failings in a clearly understated Foreman, then same could be said of the opposition listed above.

The actual fact is that Young, when he was running hot, was giving all the upper echelon guys problems - not just a transitional and emotionally impaired Foreman.

Rather than isolating George, JY was the common denominator.

If Foreman came out of the gates as he did against Norton, cool and measured before prudently stepping it up in round 2 to see Ken off - I would say he would have had a very good chance of seeing JY off in similar fashion.

The Foreman that faced JY, mentally, emotionally and as applied, was a far cry from the formidable version that killed Kenny.

 

We have a saying in my home country. "Gunter glieben glauten globen." Roughly translated? It means "We run silently, through the trees, raking the forest, ensuring there will be no fires, silently, raking always, and always silently, naked, yet unafraid, and willing to face the God who shamed us and made us wear the clothing of the beasts which we'd killed and which we'd harvested, alone, in the forest, beginning nakedly and ending clothed by the beast."

 

I'm sorry. That's not a good translation. I should've used Google for that.

 

Just one other proof, if you will, of Foreman’s transitioning seeing him not being as effective as prior applications of himself.

Against Frazier in the rematch, Foreman was pointedly measured and paced, more technically orientated. Aesthetically, he looked damned good.

However, the revised style wasn’t needed so much against Frazier specifically.

It was a case of Foreman simply honing and perfecting his revised style, an investment for the future when such a style (and, by association, more rounds under his belt) would serve him better, at different times, against certain opposition.

In the rematch, Frazier’s own newly adopted defensive style didn’t see him survive longer so much as Foreman’s revised style allowed Joe to last for that bit longer.

Therefore, in the face of the opponent at hand, Foreman wasn’t optimally applied or ideally effective - but it was excellent “on the job” training for his overall and future development.

Just imo, if Foreman went at Joe in the rematch, just as he did in Jamaica, the fight would’ve likely only lasted a couple of rounds, as was the case in the first fight.

So we had the “same” (not different) opponent (Frazier) who fared that bit better against a Foreman still very much in the throes of reinventing himself.

 

You’re pretty fly, aren’t you Boxed?

When you mentioned trees and forests, I immediately thought of sexy hot naked witches dancing around a cauldron - inviting me to come out and play.

Be still little Pug, be still.