Was Mike Tyson scared of fighting George foreman?

Nice post. I see where you are coming from, and I, too, agree with a lot of what you said. George showed great perseverance and determination throughout his comeback. A lot of returning fighters would have tried to cash in really quick with a big payday; but Foreman took his time, and he slowly worked his way back into the rigors of fighting and training. Again, I don't fault everything about Foreman or his comeback; he showed a lot of heart and determination and grit, so I commend him for a lot of things.
And you are right: the 1970s Foreman did seem like a nice guy a lot of times; I think the press is the one who made George out to be a 1970s villainous monster.
Outside of Foreman's blatant ducking of even the most mediocre of opponents (Orlin Norris, Anders Eckland), and his being granted two title shots off the strength of sub-par opposition, I don't fault him for a whole lot.
But he played the game and used his leverage and popularity to grease his road to success.
Had he been forced to fight a top contender before either one of his title shots, I'm sure his comeback would have turned out differently.

 

Your right. Big George was amazing. Even in his loss to Holyfield he was able to take it and stand up and go the distance taking more punishment than Tyson was able to take from Evander. His determination was uncommon in his second career.

People tend to **** on his win over Moorer but Double M could punch and he hit Foreman quite often. He also took the best a back pedaling Tommy Morrison could dish out..while younger contenders like Ruddock went down hard.

 

Good post. :good

 

Wonder what Moorer thought of Big George before and after their
bout.

 

Moorer is a bit of an Ahole!..To this day he is very sore about being KO'd by George!. Everytime ive seen him asked about it he acts like a 3 year old child about it just because George said something along the lines about getting Moorer to stand in front of him and he would catch Michael with a 1-2! and end it. Moorer gets pissed and says he got lucky and theres no way George could have planned that KO. But yet Moorer did choose do stand in front of the big guy and go shot for shot and the rest is history..Moorer is a hater!

 

Thats interesting he comes across bitter as hell, he always had a mean streak in him and a tough demeaner but seems weak mentally.

 

I think your right!!..Moorer did great things in a short amount of time tho!!..He just seems to not be able to let this one go!

 

Funny that, I remember him shitting himself in the Holyfield 2 stare down.

 

Having recently watched Holy vs Foreman recently, that fight convinced me that George was for real in his comeback. He had his moments against a superb prime champion.

 

Southpa you are completely correct about Moorer. Also, a dispute to a statement that Foreman was always a jerk in Ye Olden Daaaze that turns on a single example is completely irrational. He was often surly, & often enough relaxed & decent.

Also, until I hear some substantive evidence that George faked his transformation, it is unfair to but claims absent evidence. And not just occasional crankiness, only a Saint is (maybe) perfect.

 

Agreed.

Holy just smirked at Tyson's stare down nonsense, and he ( Tyson ) didn't know wtf was going on.

 

It's not so much Tyson worship as putting Foreman's second career in proper perspective.

Answer me this. Who was Foreman's second best victory of the 30 something fights he fought from 1987 onward?

An Alex Stewart who battered him and left his face looking like that of the Elephant Man? Cracked-out Bert Cooper? Drunk and coked-out Cooney? His robbery versus the dynamic Axel Schulz? Or beating model and part-time boxer Saverese?

 

Ironically it might have been Briggs. I thought Foreman won that fight pretty clearly.