I gotta go with Foreman. Tyson always struggled with the big heavyweight s that stayed right in front of him. Those that would fight back, and George will do that and hurt Tyson early. It won't be a 2 - 4 rounder but I see him stopping an hurt and shaken Tyson in around 6 rounds.
I didn’t select a winner on the polls. This would be one of the most brutal fights ever. Up in the air for me
Y'all are giving the chin of old George to young George. I think a young Foreman loses by KO. Nobody ever did to Tyson what Lyle did to Foreman, and I wouldn't imagine Tyson hits any less hard than Lyle. I actually think old George has a better chance again Tyson if he runs the same plan Holyfield did. Grab and maul.
Foreman was the master of manipulating opponents into his punches, the most terrifying of which for Iron Mike would be the right uppercut. Mike hurts him in the first round, goes to follow up, then eats the biggest punch he's ever experienced. Foreman floors him hard twice in that round, and Mike looks about like he did in between the 10th and 11 rounds of the first Holy fight. Mike makes it into the second and even lands a real nice hook...but eventually gets bullied into an uppercut that takes him off his feet and subsequently on the canvas for the count of 10. And this is coming from someone whom has HUGE admiration and appreciation of the 80 Mike Tyson. Foreman as a stylistic nightmare for him, and George would be completely unintimidated.
Ruddock didn't have the puncher's IQ that Foreman did, that's why he never beat Mike or became Champ. a) As mentioned before, George knew how to maneuver opponents into his power shots: bullying, pushing, using their weight and height against them. He knew how to make an opponent miss, or parry their shot, then use the weight they put into said shot to carry them right into his punches. b) Ruddock also had nowhere NEAR the jab Foreman had, at least he didn't by the time he fought Mike. He seemed to mostly abandon it by that time, which is actually when he needed it most. c) George didn't largely rely on a single punch that Mike was watching for the entire time, as Ruddock did. He very much knew how to follow up whether he landed or not. This makes the difference in any Mike Tyson-beating plan. Don't go for the one shot, always be sure to follow through and jab, jab, jab. Try to keep busy throwing punches at a steady pace. That was Foreman's Realm. Even Ali said he had much faster hands than anticipated, this isn't latter-day George.
11:13 This content is protected 11:13 How would Mike Tyson dodge, block, counterpunch, take a punch like this? 11:13
Holmes who came out of retirement. I never saw people rawing about Jack Johnson knocking out Jeffries.
Pretty bad comparison. Holmes continued his career with some good wins including schooling a young Mercer. Jefferies was completely washed up when Johnson beat him and retired afterwards. No one made Holmes look as bad As Tyson and you have to give him credit for that. He also has similar one sided destructions of Spinx, Tubbs, and Williams, I don't think anyone made them look like chumps the way Tyson did either. Similarly, Foreman absolutely crushed Frazier and was the only one to make it look like a piece of cake. That's how you know someone not only hits hard, but has elite punching skills and finishing ability. As for the thread, Foreman KOs Tyson by the 4th in a gruesome battle with both men hurt and/or dropped at some point. Bad matchup.
Yep, Foreman by KO4. This would an epic spectacle and victory. And while Foreman is pushing, shoving and manhandling Mike overall, I can just see Tyson looking lost and eyeballing the ref as if to say: “Aren’t you going to do anything about this!”. No, Mike that would be up to you. George would be simply be taking liberties, just as you did, to advantage himself. If you’re the baddest man on the planet then deal - if you don’t or can’t then that makes Foreman the baddest - and 70s Foreman was a very bad man.
What about pre Zaire Jan 22 1973 George Foreman who had not lost to Muhammad Ali, and had not had his ego crushed. The fight that Foreman had with Ron Lyle was on Jan 24 1976 after Ali put him away in the 8th round on Oct 30 1974. Don't you think that Foreman would have shoved a smaller Mike Tyson around like he did to a much smaller Joe Frazier in Jan 1973? Boxing does have some psychology to it, Foreman's ego was badly crushed after Ali, he had some self doubt, never saw Foreman on the canvas before he fought Ali.