I don't know the story behind it, but I've heard people argue Foreman ducked Holmes, both just before he quit boxing in the 70's and during his comeback years in the 90's. When I started thinking abut it myself I was like....huh, that is odd. Foreman had no issue going up against greats of the 70's and 90's, but not Holmes. I would assume Foreman believed power alone was not going to be enough to win against Holmes (given his chin and recuperative abilities) and he certainly wasn't going to outbox the guy. That's as far as I know though. Anyone else have any thoughts behind this?
The closest they came to fighting was 1999, but the promoter never came up with Foreman's remaining guarantee, and as I understand, both kept their 10% advance. Some of that is detailed/covered in the beginning of this video. This content is protected I believe there was also talk of them fighting at some point in the mid 70s, but it never got to close the point in negotiations that it did in 1999 (at least to my understanding).
I don't recall Holmes being on Foreman's radar back in the seventies. Even by the time George lost to Jimmy Young in '77 Larry was still an up and coming fighter waiting to break into major contender status. There would have been no reason for Foreman wanting him then. Like a lot of people I recall the circumstances of their projected 1999 fight breaking down.
Yeah the first time Larry is named as a future champ was possibly Ring's review of the Ali-Evagnelista snoozer, which they claimed that Holmes could possibly outpoint Ali if, as Don King wanted, he got the next shot at the title in late 77. But George had just retired, so their clash was never really on the cards.
I think Holmes was thought of as a possible opponent for Foreman in 1976. Holmes was thought of having the perfect style to get George ready for a rematch with Ali. Ritchie Giachetti turned the fight down as he thought there wasn't enough money for Holmes to fight Foreman. I think they were only offering about 10-20 grand, which supposedly Giachetti said I'm not putting Larry in with that monster or peanuts!
I don't think either fighter avoided eachother when they were younger, Holmes wasn't highly thought of until 1978 by which time Foreman had retired after losing to Young. Not sure why the fight never happened in the 90s though, watching old fights on YT it was often talked about amongst commentators but never came to fruition for whatever reason. Although I don't know if there was ever actual an offer from either side.
