If George Foreman had to fight against every heavyweight Champion before him how would he fare?

He beats them all except for Ali and Liston.

 

Here is the dirty little secret in boxing history. Foreman matches up better H2H with a field of Heavyweights better than Ali does.

 

Not saying you are wrong, but he didn't dominate Peralta in any of their bouts.

I think people in general overestimate the power component. I have no doubt in my mind that someone like Charles would give Foreman a great fight.

 

Here is the report of the 2nd Peralta fight.

• "Peralta suffered a cut over his left eye in the third round.
• Foreman staggered Peralta with two left hooks in the seventh round.
• Foreman never dropped Peralta to the canvas, but referee Elmer Costa gave him an eight-count after he lay helplessly against the ropes late in the tenth round. After Foreman blasted Peralta into the ropes again, Costa stopped the fight."

In116 fights Peralta was stopped 3 times and 1 was on cuts .

• Seems pretty dominant to me.

 

Are you aware that we have this fight available online? You don't have to rely on reports, you can watch this fight.

 

Loses to Johnson , I could see him losing to Tunney and Sharkey ( 1920's vintage) , loses to Louis, possible Walcott, Liston, Ali, Holmes, Lewis

 

johnson would get annihilated sitting back trying to counter foreman’s explosive bombs

Sharkey and Tunney are too small and weak, foreman would cut off the ring and mow them down. They fought with their hands low, no chance they survive his onslaught

Tunney never fought any big men and he drew the color line so a tall strong powerful great black fighter would be the last guy Tunney would want to fight. Sorry but that’s facts

 

I disagree because I don't see Foreman as a great fighter .. he had challenges with Peralta, put aside Ali Jimmy Young made him look like a clown and was not that strong or fast .. I feel Foreman 1 was all based on two opponents made for him in Frazier and Norton .. I stand by my thoughts and I'd bet em ,..

 

Disagree. Foreman was a great fighter. He destroyed two great fighters in their primes, defeated a big powerful puncher & top contender, and beat a few other top 10 men. Young was lucky to survive round 7, and young was a very good fighter himself who was bigger and better than anyone tunney or sharkey beat.

Foreman was 6’3 225, far stronger and more powerful than anyone sharkey or tunney fought. foreman also had a great left jab, cut off the ring very well, he had a good chin, threw deadly punches at all angles, and he was the most ferocious fighter who ever stepped foot in the ring.

Perelta? Whom foreman destroyed in a rematch? What about all of sharkeys ugly losses to tomato cans? Tunney was lucky to receive a draw vs a 19 year old Loughran. What tall big great fighter did tunney ever fight? Tunney wouldn’t even get in the ring with George Godfrey.

sharkey got blitzed by crude giraffe carnera and you wanna bring up foreman’s loss to ali?

 

If he had to fight 1971 Frazier, that result may have been decidedly different. If Joe's in top shape, weaving and defending himself, closing distance quickly and dropping big hooks and the ref stops Foreman pushing so he has to time Joe with the jab to control distance, don't rule a fit, healthy Joe out. That version only has to get past the first five rounds for the odds to be in his favour imo.

Not saying it happens, and it needs all the caveats I have given to be in place, but I'm surprised nobody else has given Joe a thought.

 

Loses to Clay and prime Ali and probably also Louis. Liston is a toss up. Beats everyone else. Johnson is too small and would get manhandled by Foreman.

 

Placing so much weight on Peralta is sliding toward the disingenuous. Foreman was simply a better fighter 10 fights later when he fought Frazier. He was then better for thrashing Frazier and Norton and had great belief in himself and his abilities prior to Ali shocking not only Foreman, but the world.

Mike Tyson struggled with James Tillis 6 months before walloping Berbick, but he had crammed 7 fights into that space and was a much better fighter by the time he stepped into the ring with Berbick. The Tillis bout was a learning experience that greatly brought him forward.

Foreman beat Peralta by big margins regardless.

 

I think you are missing my point though. Of course Foreman beat Peralta easily, but the discussion was about Foreman's power being too immense for sub-200 lbs fighter. That's really not true, smaller boxers could find ways to negate Foreman's power to some degree. Assuming that any fighter below 200 lbs would get stopped quickly by Foreman is foolish in my opinion.

Of course Foreman improved after Peralta fights. Peralta also wasn't anything special, you can find a lot of better HW boxers below 200 lbs than him.

 

It's mind boggling how much this gets trotted out. Foreman was stumbling all over the place and the blow was glancing at best. It's hard to be sure it even caught his head. He actually catches the rope with his left arm and pushes off the floor with his right the second his hand and knee hit the canvas and is off after Young in a blink. The commentators weren't sure if it was even a KD. We know what happened to Foreman after the fight.

Ali stopped a number of durable guys and he'd certainly dragged Foreman into deep water. Even so debate still rages whether foreman actually beat the 10 count. If he didn't beat it he was right on it.

 

The point is his power was harder to negate when he got to the likes of Frazier and Norton than it was for Peralta because he was a better fighter able to apply that power more effectively.

I agree assuming EVERY fighter under 200lbs getting stopped quickly might be a stretch but by the time he fought Norton and Ali he was pretty dang good at applying the heat.

I don't see a huuuuuuuge correlation in Peralta negating a green Foreman's power to others doing it to Norton/Ali version. Admittedly a guy like charles may stretch it out a bit but he might well not too.