Interesting matchup. While Louis did have the tendency to drop his left, I don’t think old Foreman was quick enough to make him pay for it. Watch the Max Baer fight and you’ll see that pre-prime Louis was still a monster, and a good and quick defensive fighter.
Well i don't think Old George can't get Louis out of there with one or two shots and his recuperative powers are superb so it's going to take a bit of explosiveness to follow up and finish which George at that age doesn't really have. Schmeling hit Louis with more right hands than a horse has hair and they were string straight and timed immaculately. So many were leads. Louis was however ordinary that night, he was both out of shape and technically very very wanting against a guy that could ask questions. Schmeling also defended brilliantly against Louis and his offense was a big part of that as he caught Joe and knocked his offensives off time and time again. Louis was so busy eating right hands he barely got going let alone was allowed to settles into a rhythm. Old George is ponderous compared to Schmeling and i just don't think he is sharp enough to offset the Louis offensive like Max did. I can't count George right out against this version as he did throw his right hand dead straight second phase and Louis being out of shape makes him vulnerable if the fight lasts as much as because an out of shape fighter doesn't ship it as well vs he tires. I'd favor a Louis TKO i guess as i don't think George has the output to stifle his offensive like Max did. Louis being great to both body and head helps his cause greatly too.
Louis didn't 'drop his left' nearly as much as Schmeling made him drop his left. You can position yourself so the your left foot is toe to toe with his and you settle your weight back over your right foot. That increases the distance that his jab has to travel. He will look to circle to his left to shorten that distance but you can track that easily; you just slide your left foot to the right to get back in alignment. If you move the right foot first in that situation you open yourself up- you widen your stance- and now you are right in front of him and he has won the battle of position. By keeping that foot position- your left foot in line with his- with your weight back, you make him reach with his jab and that leads to his jab dropping. It also makes him punch across his body with his right hand. Both of those things make you vulnerable to getting hit with right hands. Old Foreman was a pretty smart guy, but probably more smart about what he was trying to do and less smart about adapting to what the other guy was looking to do, if that makes sense. He wouldn't try to get that position on Louis and it wouldn't make sense for him to try. Louis would use his feet to out jab Foreman- put that 'slow feet' garbage in your pocket- by simply stepping in and out and circling. This is probably a decision fight. Louis could stop him. If Alex Stewart used his jab to turn George into a gargoyle, the Louis jab would transform him significantly. Holyfield was able to hit George with extensive combinations and he was an arms and shoulder puncher especially when he started to string punches together. Louis, on the other hand, chained his weight. I don't think that anybody ever could take a series of punches from Joe Louis like the series that Foreman took from Evander.
Some very good points made in this thread. Even against an ill-trained Louis, only a handful across the ages could have duplicated what Schmeling did in that first fight. And Max didn't come out of that fight unscathed, either. Old George was a smart fighter, could go the distance, and carried power late, so he is always a dangerous opponent with more than a puncher's chance. But I don't see him catching Louis as Schmeling did. This fight could turn into a tactical battle of jabs if neither could take the other out early. I would pick 1936 Louis over Old George by decision.
While George is waiting and framing to land the big right I think he would be copping more powerful punches and a greater volume of same than he did against Moorer - and notably greater punishment than Schmeling did against ‘36 Louis - and Max did cop a good going over against ‘36 Louis at any rate. George had a better chin than Max but the punishment he would likely take would be that much greater again than was inflicted on Max - and Joe thrived on the bigger and slower targets - and 2nd career Foreman fits that description like a glove - but a target that still holds an amazing chin and extraordinary punch over the long haul. I think I would take Louis by UD or very late round KO/Stoppage.
