Not wishing to pressure you here, and I an not looking to bring anybody round to my opinion today. I am just outlining ideas that I think you should factor into your analysis. Yes I would say Briggs in all but name.
If the rumors about Cooper being doped up on drugs and having spent the night before the Foreman fight with prostitutes, then that would explain his dismal showing. And Cooper has blamed Archie Moore for being the guy who sent the prostitutes and drugs to his hotel room. In the dirty world of boxing, nothing would surprise me. And while I don't know much about Archie Moore personally, I can't say that something like that would surprise me, even from a legendary boxing figure. When there are potentially millions of dollars to be made from your fighter's continued success, you never know how low some folks will go. I hope that rumor isn't true. I always liked Archie (form what I saw of him).
I heard Cooper's story as well. Based on what I have seen and heard I don't think I would take his word over Moore's. I also don't Foreman needed the help or that Cooper needed help going on a drug fueled bender.
The Cooper that fought Holyfield or Moorer or Mercer would have been a tough fight for George. Styles make fights of course, and Cooper's style would play into a lot of Foreman's strengths, but I'd still give Cooper a major chance in the fight.
Foreman couldn't take out Moorer, the guy with the weakest chin ever before round 8-9, and he was under the delusion he would take iron mike out
Holyfield made everyone look better than they should, from Dokes to the first Moorer fight. Douglas was the only one who tanked it. Hell, even Seamus McDonough caught him with some flush shots early on until Holyfield's class soon showed. Foreman had some moments because Vander made him look good in those spots. Alex Stewart gave Holy problems. EVERYONE Holy fought basically went to war with him. Foreman lost to every top rated contender he stepped up to. Like I said before, he was a good heavyweight with power. That power made him look better than he was. Once he stepped up his comp he got embarrassed, and quite badly. I rooted for the guy, I mean who didn't, but he's getting way too much hype even after landing that lucky punch against Moorer. Foreman gives Moorer a rematch and it's even more one sided. This isn't hatred or bias, just looking back as an older man who saw things a little bit differently as a teenager. Back then I thought it would've been a good scrap with Tyson, hell I still think it would've been fun, but Tyson most likely hurts George, and quite badly too.
If you are claiming the above, then you should also be unbiased enough to acknowledge that when guys fought back hard against Tyson, he quit fighting himself, and got the **** beaten out of him. THAT is why people genuinely feel Foreman would beat the mentally feeble Tyson.