Joe Louis vs George Foreman

Foreman wasnt as slow as people made him out to be. I dont think Louis would have a huge speed advantage and I think he gets caught.

 

What makes you think that Lyle had a better chin than Louis?

 

Ali?

 

:roll:

 

Joe Louis would destroy foreman within 3 rounds...Technique and Straight Punches > wide slow loops. Louis' blazing pinpoint combinations beat foreman to the punch and finish an agressive foreman off early.

 

Could certainly go either way, but Foreman would get caught before long. He can't fight with that crude, slugging style and not get caught by the Master. It would be no easy task to KO George, though, so I believe durability would factor in. If Big George hasn't knocked Louis out by the 10th, though, I think he's in trouble.

 

Foreman is being seriously underrated technically here.

 

Lyle, in his entire career, never knocked down a ranked contender not named Foreman or Shavers (whose durability and stamina is questionable) What did he do against Big George? Dropped him and was probably was going to finish it had Foreman not been saved by the bell. Lyle was no big puncher, contrary to public opinon.

It also warrants saying that Louis was never finished off by a single punch like Lyle was against Ali. To take out Louis it had to be a sustained effort unlike Lyle. Saying that Louis, who is without a doubt one of the greatest punchers of all time, has no chance against a guy whose defense consists of shoving his opponent is not well thought out.

My pick is Louis here. There's always a question mark with Foreman in these matchups, you never know if he's going to simply bulldoze his opponent in the early rounds. Few fighters if any throughout history had his style, which makes it hard to gauge how certain fighters do against him when they never faced anything like him. But considering his shortcomings and Louis's strengths, Louis is the better bet.

 

Louis was never close to getting finished off early by a Henry Cooper. Dropping Louis was easier than dropping Ali, but in terms of recovery he is at least Ali's equal.

 

Lyle most certainly was a big puncher. His power was up there with Foreman and Shavers. I think what it is that the Quarry loss caused him to box more and slug less. But he proved in the Foreman bout that he definately has the power. I mean who else put Foreman down when he wasn't exausted.

 

Cooper was never close to finishing Ali off. In fact he had no chance to. Ali took shots from Frazier constantly and was hurt badly in the 1th round and recovered and keep through. Louis was getting tagged badly by Conn in the 12th, and Louis also was Knocked Out twice in his career.

I know chin and recuperative powers are somewhat intertwined but I believe Ali was superior in this regard. Joe below him but not by much. Nobody was probably better than Ali in this regard imho.

 

Foreman's defence was...wierd. He'd throw his arms up to ward off blows, yet a sharpshooter like Ali bounced punches off his face with alarming ease.

Now Louis has Ali's accuracy and compared to that Ali was almost as quick, yet he hit much harder and had a killer instinct second to none. If Foreman attempts to walk through Louis' punches like he tried to do with Ali, he would be in serious trouble despite his great chin.

Foreman's the bigger guy, but it's not like it's a David versus Goliath matchup either. Size is not going to determine the winner.
George is dangerous for anyone because of that huge power, and Louis will have to be careful not to get caught by anything with real clout on it. I think he'd catch Louis here and there, but because Louis' firepower is so formidable, I can't see George throwing caution to the wind and wading in there like he did with Frazier.

For me it would be Louis catching George coming in with sweetly timed shots, and Foreman scoring quite well with his jab and the odd power punch that would force Louis to hold or back off.
I don't see Foreman scoring with enough big punches though, and Louis would break him down and stop him before 8 rounds are over.

 

People often say Louis had trouble with swarmers. People often say Louis had trouble with slick movers. One style Louis definiteley never even showed the least bit of weakness against was against sluggers like the Baers. Of the great heavyweights of all time I really couldn't see one more tailor made for Joe Louis than George Foreman.

 

Because Ali was saved by the bell. I'm not implying that Ali wasn't one of the hardest fighters to take out, just that Joe Louis is on the same level. When you fight 30+ ranked contenders and only ever get stopped by Schmeling after 12 rounds of getting nailed, and a guy named Marciano at 37, that's pretty damn impressive.

 

Louis, mid-round KO.

Foreman is not the ideal fighter to stop Louis, a sharp-shooter is, and he did not conduct himself well enough for Louis to merely ponder over his flaws. Unlike a Dempsey or Tyson, Foreman does not create the necessary angles or pounces with enough precision.

Foreman is going to march up to Louis slowly with his open arms and attempt to slap away the threatening jabs. Louis will be airtight, elbows in and keep Foreman in stylistic limbo; daring him to commit and forcing him to box.

When Foreman opens up Ted Spoon can only see the Max Baer scenario whereby the shorter, faster punches and smaller target rip open the wide swings. Louis would traditionally pace himself and see Foreman off on the vast majority of exchanges.

Louis was a real master of disaster where stopping traffic is concerned. Foreman may be a tank, but Louis' fiats are the tactical RPG's in this one.