One of those questions where I really don’t have a clue. It’s worth pointing out that James Toney WAS at least floored by lesser hitters so the prospect of George Foreman scoring a stoppage isn’t out of the question. If he can corner Toney and just smash him to bits until someone steps in and waves it off it might be possible
But that's the point of the thread isn't it? Whether or not prime Foreman could KO Toney, known for his defensive savvy and granite chin. Toney was in the same league of ATG durabilty as Ali and was far improved in terms of defence. When you have a guy sitting on the ropes and letting you pound on him then neither drop or stop him I think that raises a question mark over how trustworthy Foreman is in hypotheticals against durable opponents, especially ones who have the rare combination in Toney's case of having a chin like a cement block and an aptitude at making punches miss and roll off of you.
That's just how I see it ending, with Toney hurt and trapped against the ropes, and the ref jumping in fast. Could be the early rounds to.
As good as Toney was, I would not bet on him taking Foreman's punches as well as he took anybody else's, even with his great defensive ability. He was visibly rocked against guys at Heavyweight that are much lesser punchers and tacticians to George, and I just feel as if he's not going to be able to replicate an Ali-like performance in which he's able to just eat Foreman's punches round after round.
Agree. Not saying it would definitely happen but i believe it’s possible. Toney had a terrific defense but George was also known to batter an opponents arms and shoulders until they were forced to drop their guard. I think something like that might happen here.
His guard manipulation was also terrific, he'd lock your arm and slam your solar plexus with either hand (I saw him do a right lock into a left uppercut against Lyle), and we've seen before that Toney is a tad vulnerable to these tactics. Michael Nunn did a similar thing in their match where he locked up James' right hand with a right hook and interlocked their arms before turning into a left cross while Toney was defenseless. The only reason I know these things is because I'm a big fan of guard manipulation myself whenever I spar, lol.