If George had beaten Ali in Zaire...

Foreman's ego would've ballooned and he would've ruined his career.

 

At some point, he would have ran into Holmes or Young, most likely Holmes and lost the belt. Probably in a tropical climate too.

 

He wouldnt have seen Jesus, he wouldnt have preached, he wouldnt have been the oldest champion ever. Better for him he lost that fight. It was his fortune.

 

Forman was on the short road to oblivion. I think if Ali had not beaten him, he would have become a much lesser man and champion. That loss changed his life for the better, and we were all lucky for it.

 

But at the time Foreman retired in early '77 following his defeat to Jimmy Young,Larry Holmes was n't yet on the radar as a top contender let alone world champion.

 

I'd be one of the all-time greats.

 

How da **** would Foreman losing to Ali lead to a domino effect culminating in you being not only a pro boxer, but an ATG as well?

 

I don't think Foreman would get very much credit for beating Ali, since Ali was getting old and probably wouldn't go on to achieve much if he lost to George.

But if George had beaten Holmes in '78 and retired shortly afterward and Holmes went on to have something lik the kind of career he did have, you'd have to at least mention Foreman in the conversation about GOAT at HW.

 

Well, I'd have beaten '74 Muhammad Ali. ATG win on my record. I'm 165 with 15% body fat, so I'm basically a 17 year old middleweight and the gulf in experience would make it a seriously great win.

 

I stand corrected.

 

There would have been Frazier and Ali rematches (if Ali didn't retire after that).

It's possible George might have held the title and ducked some key players (Young) until pressure had him fight Holmes by '79 at the latest. And in that case George would lose, as Holmes had started sitting more into his punches and refining his game. I'm not even sure Foreman could have given a young guy a chance and won against the Holmes of the first Shavers fight...in fact I doubt it.

Prime Foreman and prime Holmes would have been much more interesting.

 

Muhammad Ali would have gone into retirement following a loss to then champion George Foreman on the night of Oct 30 1974. Ali would have become a political Ambassador as he was both articulate and intelligent. He was revered around the world. George would have gone on as champion, he would have defensed against the likes of Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, Jerry Quarry.. His end would have been against Jimmy Young on March 17 1977, losing his title to Jimmy Young, by unanimous decision.