prime John L.Sullivan v. old George Foreman

Foreman was slow and alot of the fighters back then in the 1880's relied alot in reflexes but its not enough a prime John L. wasn't any heavier than 190 and Foreman in '91 weigh about 260!
I say Forman early KO

 

I honestly don't know where people get this from.

Every primary source that I have seen puts Sullivan at over 200lbs in gloved contests.

 

And if John L ate and trained the same as Foreman, he probably would have weighed 260, but it is hardly a good thing for either Sullivan or Foreman, is it?

 

The thread asked about OLD Foreman, so I'll say that I do not think old Foreman was fast enough or busy enough to take prime Sullivan, who was a brutal fast puncher who threw a lot of vicious blows in combination with great rapidity, and he didn't tire either. He had underrated defensive skills as well. You don't read about Sullivan getting cut or bruised, and his opponents wore 2-3 ounce gloves same as he did. Like it or not, old Foreman got hit a lot and he didn't punch very often. Bad combination going against a real puncher like Sullivan.

Hell, I don't think old Foreman would necessarily beat Ron Lyle, and he'd need to be as good as he was when he was younger to deal with that type of offensive power-punching onslaught, because like Lyle, Sullivan could really punch.

Hell, I even think a young Foreman takes old Foreman. True old Foreman was more relaxed and knew how to pace himself better, but let's face it, that's about all that old Foreman did better, and the fact that old Foreman did as well as he did isn't a testament to how great old Foreman was (sure he was pretty darn good), but rather serves to highlight just how really really special the young Foreman was. Young Foreman was faster, busier, and friskier, and even his footwork was better - he was able to track down runners, whereas old Foreman couldn't move at all. Old Foreman knew he wasn't what he once was, and couldn't do what he once did, so he had to carefully pace himself. Even at that, he still had a heavy blow and could take it and didn't get moved backwards, so he's no joke by any means. But if I'm making the odds, I'm giving young John L. the edge.