Was Foreman that vulnerable to the right hand

At the end of the day, it was a horrible selection as a comeback opponent for George. Look at the Ali management and what they did directly after Zaire--no hitter and their opponent selection was to dig up Wepner. That was a big big surprise at the time and chuck was a regional fighter fighting in smaller venues and was not a national guy or a name fighter. An opponent. Byut certainly not a hitter and theat's the side that won the Foreman fight.

They should have had Foreman in there with a Joe Roman caliber type fighter. The big trouble was Foreman had hired Perenchio as his manager and he was trying to put together an Ali rematch. So perhaps they wanted a more high profile name or more of a type 5 guy to get past and hopefully force the Ali rematch, not really sure. But never a hitter.

There was so much going on in that Foreman career from before that Frazier fight to the Young fight. Very difficult guy to deal with and lots of behind the scenes problems. Kind of like management crises we saw with Tyson going into his Douglas fight. Stuff had been going on for a few years, but both guys had still continued to win inpressively in the ring. But that parachute does open on those guys and they do get licked.

But at least we saw Tyson comeback against--of all people--Tillman. Anyone fessing up to liking Henry's chances in that one? I think Ruddock or Bruno even or a hitter give Iron Mike more difficulty at that particular point in time, just as Foreman had against Lyle. But they were too smart in their opponent selection and knew they needed a confidence builder and get any rust off Mike.

Optimal mathmaking is such a huge impact on a fighter's career and when a guy does not benefit from optimal matchmaking, the results are different.

 

Thats a good analysis.:good

 

Zero head movement ,relying on his parrying of shots, which was pretty poor , meant he was going to get clipped. as Bummy said, the combination of his two careers gives him a decent ranking all time, he makes 6/7 for me .
I was impressed with his accuracy as an old man, taking out Cooney, his massive arms meant that even arm punches stunned guys.

 

The other really rarity considering the guy's susceptibility to punches is that he did not fall for feints. Even that ali fight he'd get hit clean and just continue doing what he was doing offensively and keep that foot on the gas pedal. The first time I saw him falling for feints was the Young fight. Very very difficult thing to do and when you take most punchers, once they start falling for feints, they are in trouble.

I tend to think it was Sandy Saddler influence, but not sure. It would not have been Archie Moore because that guy was a master at feinting and equally tough to feint.

The other heavy that seemed to fight that way, at least for awhile, was Bowe. He acknowledged getting hit more than an early foreman and later on he fell for feints. But the guy in the Biggs and coetzer and Holyfield #1 bouts just took a shot and fired back knowing the opponent had to be in range. I think that's what surprised Evander a bunch was this guy not pausing on the outside or regrouping or falling for feints. He just punched. But that was gone by the 2nd Commander Vander bout and Bowe was definately reacting to landed punches in that one.

What a tough tough way to fight and what a small margin of error. Things like cuts and/or swelling and so many things can go sideways. And of course, it's going to take top notch conditioning to pull that kind of thing off as well. but it does keep a guy in offensive mode, doesn't it?

 

About Bowe, do u think that may have been due to failing punch resistance? when your younger, and i know this from personal experience, the punches dont seem to affect you as much, or you just walk through them, but as you get older, or are more inactive, even the lightest of punches hurts or leaves a mark.

 

Ruddock may have ****ed Tyson up big time if they fought a year earier. Tysons book mentions that after the Douglas fight there was reports that Tyson was drinking heavily and not in the best shape. Obviously Tillman and Stewart didnt last very long so we didnt really see the cracks at the time. However, i think Tyson always respected Ruddock and was aware of the challenge he posed, he would always have taken him seriously.

Tyson was overconfident a lot of the time, but when he feared/respected an opponent, he always trained hard. Look at Tyson in Bruno 1, Douglas, Holyfield 1, then compare his shape to The Ruddock fights, 2nd Holyfield fight and second Bruno fight.

 

Young Foreman would have destroyed Bowe.

 

Well if he fights Ruddock instead of Tillman, it has a whole different risk. What you almost always see is a B effort and some ring rust and sluggishness in there. That's why a hitter or a cutie pie are never picked as an opponent. In this case a Foreman a Ruddock or a Mike Hunter. And by that point in time, his pre-fight preperations are not close to the version preparing for Spinks or Thomas.

As to the Bowe question, he could not absorb like George, either short term or over the course of a career. And he did not have Foreman's power either. Just a tightrope act to walk and it's always interesting to see the unique skills the top fighters have to get them their wins. That's what seperates them. But that stuff doesn't last forever and many cannot substitute other skills, once those unique skills are diminished or flat out no longer effective.

 

In the same way you could say a bear is vulnerable to being stabbed in the jugular.

Enjoy trying to take advantage of that.

His head movement prior to the Ali fight was actually okay, while he was looking for openings. Of course, when he got one and hurt his opponent it all went out the door. But there were very few who would be brave enough mentally and durable enough physically to take advantage of that too.

If Marquez had been a heavyweight. George would have been in trouble