"Prime" Foreman v "Prime" Holyfield.

On the surface, it may look as though a 70's Foreman would win due to his taking Holy the distance at age 42, but that can be deceiving.. Foreman of the 90's may not have been the destroyer that he was in the 70's, and perhaps not even as good, but for all that extra weight and added years, he still had acquired some tools that he didn't have back in his day. His cross arm defense was far more effective than anything he had in his prime.. His tendency to fight slower, concerve punches and pace himself, made him capable of going the distance and still being effective late ( see the Moorer fight. ). He was calmer, had a more mature attitude and actually studied his opponents, coming into a fight with an actual plan..

While George would have been a huge threat to anyone, particularly those who liked to trade, his only shot at beating Holyfield would be to stop him early, and frankly I don't see anyone taking out the Real Deal quick... Sure, Evander might get dropped once or twice and sent staggering around the ring like a drunk who dropped his car keys, but I feel that he had the heart, chin, conditioning, and survival tactics to make it out of the first 6 or 7 rounds... We also shouldn't brush off the possibilty that he'd do some damage himself.. Foreman's balance was not exactly tremendous, his defense sucked and weather he was 25 years old or 45, was always a slow mover... Holy could crack too... I think that as the fight went on, we'd see Evander taking more and more of the rounds, landing more and more meaningful shots, while Foreman's onslughts would get fewer and fewer... I can see a late stoppage, or perhaps a very close decision in favor of the Real Deal...

 

Depends on what you mean by prime Foreman. They just showed that fight in its entirely on ESPN, and I had forgot what a beating he put on Foreman. Actually I didn't even remember it that way. I think people were a little carried away with lauding praise on Foreman for making such an improbable and unprecedented comeback, that they didn't accept an accurate portrayal of that fight. Holyfield beat that old man up pretty bad. Big George got some licks in himself, but the fight was terribly one-sided overall. George proved in that fight, despite the bigger waistline, that he was in much better shape and could take a much better punch than he ever could in the 70s.
I think Holyfield pummels the Foreman that fought Ali into an early stoppage.

 

This is a fascinating match up that has been obscured by the farcical fight that actualy took place.

Holyfield had the ability to counter a prime Foreman nad the ability to withstand pleantly of his punches in a trench war. On the other hand he did not have the power to decisively capitalise on these advantages.

How could this not have been an all time fan favourite?

 

Foreman wins late KO

 

Foreman TKO 5 Holyfield

 

Have to think about it more but Foreman was a better offensive threat back in the day. To make it clear, I wouldn't use Foreman after he destroyed Frazier because his lethal Jab basically went out the window. Without the jab, those wide-punches of his could be seen better and it also helped pace himself a little more in breaking down his opponent rather than just relying on one punch to blow him out.

So I liked the Jab of Foreman to set-up his other punches but also I really like his body-shots that he could throw...which I do think could be a problem for Holyfield who no matter what he did to bulk himself up, his waist-line wasn't going to get thicker like a big HW.

 

Holyfield UD or late TKO

 

Toss up. 70's Foreman was a lot different than the 90's version..using the actual Holy-Foreman matchup to see who'd win the prime for prime battle is a bad idea I think.

 

George Foreman all the way. Holyfield had mountains of trouble against an old Foreman, a young Foreman would of washed a young Holyfield up. The old Foreman staggered Holyfield just about every round, but didn't have the instincts like he did when he was young to finish him off.

 

Gotta disagree here. Holyfield beat Foreman rather easy in their April 1991 fight. IT was just that Foreman, with his massive weight edge and strong chin, was so durable that he was able to withstand Holyfield's fusilade of punches. But the fight was not close at all. And Foreman never really staggered Holyfield with a punch; anytime Holyfield was knocked off balance or sent reeling, it was due to Foreman's ponderous swings hitting Holyfield's gloves or shoulders. You'd be hardpressed to give Foreman one round in that fight. Foreman was just too slow to win rounds; he'd land a single punch, and then Holyfield would nail him with 3 0r 4....

 

I could make a case foreman won 4-5 rounds of the fight, let alone 1 round.

 

Remember rd 5 of holy/lewis 1??????.......... Well foreman doesnt let holy of the hook and knocks him out.

 

I think the young Foreman is hugely overrated .. some styles he would crush ... others he would lose too ... Evander should stop him late but if he lost his head and traded he would get stopped ...