What if Foreman didn’t retire after the Young fight?

There wouldn't be a Holmes era. At some point Ali would be gone and it'd be Foreman time. For a long time. But he would have likely retired or been about to retire by the time his 2nd career begins in our timeline. I don't think hes going to late 1997 if his first career continues uninterrupted.

 

Highly unlikely. Foreman was mentally done which is why he lost to Young in the first place. He doesn’t fair any better against Holmes.

 

You would need the very best Foreman to defeat a prime Holmes. That man was gone already by 1977. However, given Ali was about to exit stage left, it’s likely he could’ve hung in there long enough to briefly re-capture the crown, before Holmes dethrones him around 1980. I’d say Foreman would be more than ready to go into preaching by that stage.

 

Foreman was on the downside when he fought Young and IMO Holmes would have stopped him if they’d fought after that in George’s first go around.

 

The 10 year hiatus definitely spared George the wear/tear he would’ve suffered otherwise, so if he kept going without a break, I can’t envisage seeing him making it through to 48 years of age.

IF he kept going, he was still in mental disrepair (as already identified per earlier post) and he might’ve quickly dug himself such a hole as to squash any possibility of the comeback he did make.

IF he had been able to take the Young loss in stride and used it to further improve, he would’ve still been a force to be reckoned with - it wasn’t like the spoiling Young wasn’t giving all the top HW contenders nightmares as at the time, including Lyle, Shavers, Norton and Ali...

When Foreman retired Holmes wasn’t exactly engaging top shelf competition.

I think Larry claimed he was being avoided around that time but I think Holmes was being brought along very carefully.

Of course IF Foreman has continued, the sooner he got Holmes in the ring, the better it would’ve been for him.

 

The most unlikely fight that could have taken place, or almost happened, in my lifetime that I most wanted to see was Old George vs. Old Larry.

I think Holmes would have always had the edge.

 

Foreman needed to reinvent himself and I doubt that would have happened had he continued on. It’s probably one of the very FEW times in boxing history where a fighter actually benefitted from taking extended time off.

 

I have said more than once here that if you could put old George’s brain and cardiovascular endurance into young George’s body, you might have the GOAT.

 

Larry improved to 23-0 on the undercard of Foreman-Young in spring 1977. Holmes had a decision win over Roy Williams, which was a nice notch on his belt, and by a year later when he completely outclassed Earnie Shavers in their first fight, I think he’d have been more than ready for any version of George that we saw post-Ali/pre-retirement.

 

If he didn't retire then presumably he wouldn't be mentally gone, I think Holmes would end up nipping at his heels always on the chase away from the #2 spot but not as competitive/exciting as the Ali/Frazier dynamic, Tyson is going to be unavoidable and the better series of fights, he still blows Holmes away and ends up a trilogy with Foreman as a likely career cap for Foreman, he retires around the time Tyson goes to prison and the Holyfield fight never happens

 

The Myth of George Foreman persists! he was a rushed product the Young fight had much more to do with Young then it did the “Mentally shot” millionaire fighter with one loss.
Foreman would’ve been “another guy” in the era of the 80s the Lyle fight should’ve been a clue decades ago.
GF is someone Holmes would stop and a career Tyson would likely finish.
He’d be probably the number 3-5 guy of the era but with rising and falling stock mixing it up with guys his own size and strength.

 

Goodness me. Honestly…

 

He’s been doing this for years. Even his insults haven’t changed.

Very surprised he didn’t bring up Ossie Ocacio.

Very boring and predictable poster.

 

I’m half kidding lol I don’t think he’s “great” but some of that’s for gigs.