Old Foreman vs Tyson?

Which version of each?

 

Tyson probably wins by decision until '88, I'm not picking slugger Tyson of the 90s to beat George.

 

I want to give this to Tyson, but I believe that if Foreman plays the cards right, he could likely knock Tyson out in the later rounds.
But then again, he'd have to have either let Tyson gas himself out (And it would likely have to be a 12 rounder), or pour on enough damage to butter him up to be eaten alive.
It's a sad thing to say that Tyson loses to an old man Foreman, but I see that being the most likely outcome.

 

Tyson by stoppage

 

Both had a great chin and power but the difference in handspeed is such that I can't see Foreman not being beaten by KO/TKO.

 

I used to fancy Foreman but I've been sliding more and more towards Tyson when I think about it. Post prison Tyson probably takes the L though.

 

There's so many ways this fight could go, and it depends on when exactly they fight.

Foreman from 89-91 was becoming a pretty frightening boxer having shaken off the ring rust and reinventing himself as a slow but steady tank with a ramrod jab, powerful body shots, and crushing hooks and uppercuts with either hand. His cross armed defense was a virtually impenetrable fortress. He could stalk and cut off the ring and had underrated accuracy. However in spite of all these positive traits, he wasn't very hard to outbox, still got hit despite his tight guard, and was just so slow. But if you had poor defense, lacked in speed, or stood in front of him he could instantly turn the tide with his frightening power. Holyfield and Morrison were able to neutralize some of his power by either moving away from him or by being too close for his power to be effective. Rodrigues, Cooper, and Cooney were decimated for not using these tactics.

Foreman from 93-94 was fairly similar to the one above, but had made some adjustments. Rather than putting everything he had into every blow at full force, he started shortening up his shots a bit. His jab was sharper, more consistent, with better timing. He was less eager for the KO and more content to either let the knockout/stoppage come naturally from built up damage, or was fine with getting a decision. The most notably change was this Foreman had finally mastered the stragiht right hand down the middle, rather than throwing a looping shot or right hook. He was very patient, had better ring IQ, and timing, sacrificing some of the power and aggression that made him so scary in earlier years to become a more patient tactician. He also switched from the cross arm guard to a standard guard which had mixed results. The KO of Moorer was one of the most impressive title winning efforts and a scary display of power over a short distance.

Foreman from 95-97 had lost a lot of the steam from his punches with no KO's and was also even less aggressive than 93-94 Foreman. It seems he was content to simply face low/mid level opposition for the extra money and had no desire to really push himself inside the ring often staying in 1st gear and just cruising along until the final bell. On the positive side, his jab had somehow evolved even more and became a thing of beauty and he was even more defensively responsible. Unless you had a glass jaw or you were a journeyman with low speed and durability, this version of Foreman wasn't much of a threat outside of his jab and chin and was no longer an elite fighter.




Tyson of 85-86 was a very aggressive, high energy fighter who threw vicious shots every single round. He was like a pitbull ready to sink his teeth at the start of every round. He had powerful combinations, great head movement, great balance, timing, and accuracy. He showed a lot of maturity and focus for a young fighter being able to win a war with Ribalta scoring an unusual late round stoppage and destroyed the rugged, confident veteran champion Berbick with ease. On the other hand, this version of Tyson didn't face that many styles or highly skilled fighters and mostly faced fairly weak competition. But when he did step up, he showed world lass skill. He showed signs of having issues with movers like Tillis and people who could tie him up.

Tyson of 87-88 is often considered the best version, blending amazing power and speed with good defense and ring awareness. He was tough, disciplined, and made the best competition available look like sparring partners. It must be noted tho that the competition themselves had issues such as drug problems, injuries, or layoffs. Smith was really the only prime world class opponent he beat who had none of these problems, and Smith barely made an effort fighting to survive mostly. None of this was Tyson's fault and he did what he had to do to become an incredibly threatening h2h presence and an undisputed champion at a young age. At this stage, the only things you could criticize in his overall game was neglecting his jab (which was actually good and underrated), a lack of inside game, a vulnerability to uppercuts, and having no idea how to deal with big men clinching him.

Tyson of 89-91 was still a very threatening fighter. The highlight reel KO's against good competition was proof of that, and his hand speed was still impressive. Williams, Bruno, and Ruddock were all solid fighters and Tyson won convincingly. However, it was around this time he suffered his first loss to Douglas who displayed many tools that frustrated him such as a heavy jab, uppercut, lateral movement, and clinching. It is also worth noting Tyson's defense had grown significantly worse and he was tagged a lot, neglecting his head movement/technique and ironically becoming something of a head hunter and brawler (but an effective brawler to be fair).

Tyson of 96-97 was vastly different from his pre-prison self, aside from the knockout power and hand speed. The peak a boo style was there, but just not as sharp or fine-tuned anymore. He could get visibly frustrated quite quickly and became even more of a brawler neglecting defense. Still, he occasionally showed flashes of his old self with good timing such as the brutal body shots and uppercuts he landed on Bruno. This is where we saw Tyson's stamina look less impressive, along with his overall game in general. But he was still a very dangerous fighter who could still throw deadly combinations and had an iron chin.

Tyson from 99 onwards isn't really worth discussing.



Alright, so let's mix and match.


Tyson of 87-88 probably beats any version of Old Foreman by clear decision after surviving getting rocked a few times. He'd have trouble with that heavy jab, pressure, and body shots, but the speed difference would tilt the odds in his favor. If he does enough damage he could potentially get a late round TKO, but this would be a dangerous idea given how Foreman was a sly old man with deadly power himself. I would say Tyson wins at least 80% of the time unless he gets overconfident running into something big and the proverbial puncher's chance given these two titans both hits like trucks.

Tyson of 85-86 beats 95-97 Foreman convincingly by decision. As for the other 2 versions of Foreman, he could probably beat 93-94 (against due to the speed difference, superior timing, and high work rate pitbull style). However, 93-94 Foreman is still very lethal with that short sharp right hand and uppercuts. Tyson may need to get off the floor to win, but he probably wins regardless. 89-91 Foreman is intriguing as he seemed to have zero fear or hesitation whatsoever and was willing to throw bombs from round 1. His size, strength, durability, and pulverizing jab ramming into Tyson's face all night would be a very difficult task for the young fighter and I'm not sure he even wins. 85/86 Tyson couldn't fight backing up, was a little too aggressive for his own good, and was pretty inexperienced. I think 89-91 Foreman wins by mid-round stoppage.

Tyson of 89-91, eh, I don't like this matchup at all. He was lax on defense, showed a willingness to brawl huge men like Ruddock, and also became dirtier with elbows and nut shots. That's a very bad recipe against the offensive juggernaut 89-91 Foreman and would probably find himself knocked out. However, I think this version of Tyson is still way too fast and skilled for the more cautious and slower Foremans of 93-97 and wins by TKO.

Tyson of 96-97 beats 95-97 Foreman in a very close competitive fight and...that's it. Any other version of Foreman destroys him.

 

I don’t think Tyson would give old Foreman the space, or pace, he’d need. I think it’d be similar to the Ruddock fights.

 

This is a real question. The topic is set too imprecisely.
Therefore, I will treat the topic arbitrarily.
Foreman (Holyfield fight) would beat any post-prison version of Tyson.

 

This is one of the worst style matchups Tyson would ever see, Foreman is 6'4' with a 79 inch reach and would have weighed around 250 for a fight with Mike. Tyson is 5'10' with a 71 inch reach so he'd be giving up 6 inches in height and 8 inches in reach and Foreman's strength is legendary and mentally I don't think Mikey would fight with confidence looking up at Foreman in ring center remembering what Cus told him about him fighting a man like Geroge. Foreman would be ready for an all out war in the first round, pumping his jab at Mike's chest , shoving him back, grabbing and mauling him inside. Tyson will attack the only way he knows how ,straight ahead winging hooks walking forward into George's howitzers. Mike cannot back Foreman up so he'll be the one on his back foot. I mean Tyson couldn't back up Evander Holyfield so he sure ain't moving George. Foreman said after the Cooney fight the reason he came back was to fight Mike Tyson and he said he'd do the same thing to Mike ,no more than one or two rounds.

 

Tyson easily

 

@Glass City Cobra
I would be very grateful, because first of all I could learn something.
To write individually for each year who wins; 1987, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96 and 97.
E.g:
1989: Tyson wins
1995: Foreman wins

 

87 Tyson UD or late round TKO. Tyson is too fast and skilled.

88 Tyson UD or late round TKO. Tyson is too fast and skilled.

89 Tyson, but he'd be in bad shape and pretty hurt and the decision would be closer. Tyson was starting to make more mistakes.

90 Foreman KO round 7, Tyson's confidence was shattered after the Douglas loss and he only had 2 rounds of activity against mid level boxers.

91 Tyson wins a close decision in a very brutal fight with both guys badly hurt, Tyson may get dropped. He had leaky defense and was very aggressive in the Ruddock fights, but showed he could take a lot of punishment from a big man with power and win. I wouldn't count Foreman out. His uppercuts could detonate on the shorter man who'd be pressing inside.

95 Foreman KO round 5. Tyson was far too rusty for Foreman this year.

96 This one is very hard to call. If you had Foreman fight Tyson instead of Holyfield for their first fight, I could maybe see Tyson winning, but I'd favor Foreman. Tyson's smaller size, smaller gas tank, leaky defense, and tendency to brawl could get him killed against the much larger, iron chinned old veteran.

97 Foreman wins a UD or stops Tyson at any point after the 3rd. Tyson had been utterly disgraced in the bite of the century and had mentally checked out as an elite fighter.