Joe Louis would obliterate George Foreman

Sure. It's still silly however.

 

Foreman was knocked down by Jimmy Young. Jimmy Young wasn't anywhere near a power puncher. Twice by Lyle. Once and counted out by Ali. I haven't checked his comeback but it seems like I don't have to.

He was knocked down 4 times in his career all by 28 years old.

Louis had 8 knockdowns in his career with 5 of them coming when he was 33 and older against top contenders.


Chins were about even.

 

Foreman had a great chin. He was an ATG hwt champion with ATG attributes. He just does not measure up well head to head with Louis. Louis had the ability to box the punchers and punch the boxers. This ability to switch up when required makes Joe a very tough fighter to beat. Only the great boxers....Ali, Tunney and Johnson could I see beating him and only Ali would I actually favor over him. Louis was a unique very high level talent whose abilities are unmatched to this day.

 

Yeah, no, Louis losses this fight and likely convincingly so.

 

Foreman is much greater than Walcott and a better fighter than Jersey, but we have to remember Louis was way past his best for that fight and still went 2-0 with the second being a crushing ko.

Against prime Louis, Foreman will resemble Baer and we all know what happened in that fight.

 

Well not really. Walcott was a far greater technical fighter than Foreman. George however possessed greater ATG characteristics. This would be attributes like toughness, ability to take punishment and not quit. Walcott was one of the best clever boxers we have had as champion.

 

Random thought: I wonder whether any professional boxer who has ever walked this earth would have rather fought Foreman than Walcott. Jimmy Young maybe? Can't be more than a handful.

 

The only scenario in which I see any version of George Foreman beating a prime Joe Louis is the Louis of the Schmeling I fight in which he stepped into the ring unfocused and underestimating his opponent vs. the underestimated January 1973 Foreman who walloped an unfocused underprepared Frazier.

Save for the scenario above, pre-WWII layoff Louis beats any version of George. Not easily, but he does it.

 

With a fighter like Louis, we typically only remember the highlights. Which consist of him going down.

We don't balance it with the grueling fights he's been in. The incredible punchers he's gone against. The countless, and I mean countless brutal shots he took, and stayed standing.

The guy had the most heavyweight defenses in history. 26 consecutive defenses, over 12 years!! You simply cannot do that, against the boxers he's faces, without a legendary chin.

 

In my heart of hearts, I think people who don't think Louis had an incredible chin should watch more footage.

Because to me it's super obvious.


Plus:
63-3

2 KO Losses

Record 12 year consecutive Heavyweight Champion

bad chin?

 

You do not take the hellacious right hands Joe took in 1936 vs Schmeling and have a bad chin. One thing that is quite clear reading all the post fight coverage is that Louis proved his toughness and chin by taking those shots full bore for so many rounds. For those uninformed Schmeling was considered one of boxings all time right hand punchers at that time.

 

Both his knockout losses came from being chipped away round by round.

And one of them was his last fight.

 

But that doesn't really have anything to do with what I said about him getting floored. he got knocked down a lot by not always huge punchers. Guys like Braddock had him down with a single right hand.

Lets not get egregious here. We have to acknowledge that compared to Foreman or compared to certain heavyweights, Louis didn't have the strongest opposition. I don't really see these incredible punchers that you are really referring to here. Lets see. We can call Marciano, Baer, Schmeling, Galento, and Walcott the "incredible" punchers, but they aren't exactly George Foreman, which is what this thread is about. For my money Louis' footwork is too static to beat Foreman and he would eventually get into a shoot out, can't see Louis getting it done.

Yes I also acknowledge the guy destroyed Max Baer and took some hard shots in that bout, imo that was Louis at his absolute best.

If we are saying Louis has a Legendary chin, then so does Floyd Patterson. Louis did not have a great chin. For me, he was great at coming back after being floored. That's more recuperative ability and heart to me.

 

Braddock was a well known right hand puncher.

You do not take the right hands Louis took from Schmeling round after round if you have a bad chin. Schmeling was considered one of hwt Boxings hardest punchers at the time.

 

The examples you use have to be measured within context of his career longevity. Defending the heavyweight title for 12 years means you're fighting the best of the best for over a decade. Many great heavyweights have much shorter reigns and get knocked out.

The Braddock knockdown was a perfectly timed, big counter. It was a great knockdown, and Louis bounced right back up. Ali had a legendary chin, and was knocked down by Banks and Cooper.

I think the amount of punishment Louis took throughout his career eclipses the handful of examples where his chain failed him.

How many other iron chinned heavyweight champions didn't have those moments? I think most of them had worse moments.