Prime Bowe vs Prime Foreman

Difficult one.

I don't like Foreman against guys that can hit and are his height AT ALL. Foreman was a destroyer and was at his best when he could unleash his bombs without serious fear of retaliation. Not the case here against the best offensive super heavyweight of all time.

At the same time, Bowe's big weakness was that he had defensive lapses and could be hit. Against one of the most powerful men to ever step in the ring this could spell disaster.

It would be a war.

 

Foreman. I just don't trust Bowe's defense against a puncher like George.

 

Foreman early KO in a brief but brutal war that probably sees both fighters go down. Bowe is incredibly durable and while he has some serious fire power of his own, he can't match bombs with George which he would probably try.

 

That's the way I'm leaning but the Ali and Lyle fights lead me to question Georges durability a bit. Neither of those two have Bowe's power or variety of punches and they seriously, seriously hurt George. Foreman had a very good chin but the question is how good. The same applies to Bowe here as he was never really tested against a top notch puncher.

It makes it a tough one to pick.

 

You can't discredit George for the Ali fight, cmon man! He had him physically exhausted and that broke him mentally. Name me another fighter that would've picked Ali's strategy to beat George? He weathered a hell of a storm to knock George out. I haven't seen the Lyle fight, but to discredit someone for losing to Ali? no way

Going off of the Ali fight, you could discredit young George's stamina and his ability to strategize and adapt, but not his durability. Unless we have different opinions of the definition of the word.

 

I thought George had an excellent chin...? :huh
If Holyfield tees off on him like that, and if Morrison's best left hook can't even buckle George, I certainly think George would be able to take it.
The Ali fight does not give any evidence for George's durability, because Ali had him mentally screwed up at that point, and that knock down was pretty much from exhaustion. same with his knock down in the Jimmy Young fight.
Ron Lyle was a monstrous puncher.
If Bowe can get knocked down by a Holyfield left hook, then George could certainly knock him down.

 

Foreman easy KO within 3 rounds

If Bowe was hurt against Hide, imagine what a monstrous finisher like George would do..

 

90's Foreman was 40 pounds heavier and stronger than the 70's version which helped immeasurably. His style was also much slower, meaning he didn't get caught with shots he didn't see coming and was always braced for the punches unlike young George.

I don't buy the whole Foreman fell over from exhaustion, either. George didn't fall over from a heart attack . Fatique had much to do with it but it was punches that put him down, and they were punches from an average puncher.

Ron Lyle was not a monstrous puncher. End of story.

Of course Foreman can knock him out, I already said I was leaning to Foreman winning by KO. But if Foreman can be nearly stopped by Ron Lyle and get stopped by Ali than he can certainly be put down by the much bigger Riddick Bowe.

 

By that logic George should of beaten Ali pretty easily as well, don't you think?

After all, if Ali was put down by the small, weak Henry Cooper.

That logic is shitty to say the least.

 

Ali was beating Foreman to the punch from the get go, and was winning when he finished it. It wasn't Wlad-Brewster despite popular belief.

I think Foreman-Ali is the most misunderstood fight in heavyweight history, in several different ways.

 

That's an interesting point. I wonder how George would do with an inside fighter whom he couldn't push off to get distance, like Frazier.

 

It was from exhaustion. Ali was not a hard puncher. George was barely standing up.
and Lyle COULD punch very hard! not top 10 ATG strength, but he has power.

 

In which fights did he show this amazing power? Shavers is the only top ten fighter he ever even knocked out and he wasn't exactly granite chinned.