What if George Foreman fought Larry Holmes in early 1978?

Foreman would lose, same as any day.

 

First of all, Foreman would have never beat Jimmy Young, no matter if he had his own private air conditioner in his corner, and Holmes would have outboxed him too. Clever boxers had the edge on Young Foreman. Especially clever boxers wit a good chin,..Young always had a great chin, and Holmes, though not as good a chin as Jimmy's, nevertheless would have had the equipment and the tools to beat George.

 

I always liked Larry to beat George.

 

well foreman struggled with peralta in the first fight / lost to ali/ and lost to jimmy young / in 78 holmes looked great in his first fight wih earnie shavers so i would have to go with larry holmes ...ironic how in 1977 larry holmes struglled with tom prater and h cossell didnt think much of larry holmes in 77.....larry holmes was a product of a lot of hard work

 

Young may never have gotten another "survival" win from George again.

 

Larry by decision. He'd have to use some lateral movement though. If he stood toe to toe George could take him out.

 

I remember watching Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Ali and Holmes on the Phil Donahue show about 30 years ago, and the thing that stuck out to me is that Larry seemed like the "Alpha" of the group. He was a little younger, and not as beaten up by the rest, but I remember nobody really challenging him, even though he was boisterous and a little rude. George had plenty of chances to fight Larry during his comeback and never wanted any of him.

 

Me too -- back in their first incarnations or if they had fought on the Second Career circuit.

 

Larry ticked far more boxes than George...first time round definetly , second time round probably.

 

I'll go against the grain and pick Foreman. Holmes was a really good boxer, but when he would start to slug the first 2 punches would be delivered nice and straight, then everything else would be swings from the hips, almost cowboy style. I thinks Foreman catches with Larry sooner or later.

 

While I can see Holmes winning a clear UD.. I think people are forgetting that Holmes tended to exchange with sluggers. That would be a bad idea with Foreman

 

I'll go with Foreman to win, also.

 

If theres anyone who could knock Holmes head off his shoulders and put his lights out upon connection .

Its definitely Big George Foreman .

I see how people are using Holmes '2 Earnie shavers wins' and Foremans 'Jimmy Young loss' as an example of why Holmes will be victorious over foreman .

There has been fighters who were lesser opposition compared to George that has floored holmes and made him taste the canvas (Snipes and Issac) . So Don't be surprised if Holmes crashes down to the canvas at any point during the fight .

For all those who are comparing Foreman to Shavers , he was a lot more durable than Shavers who had a reputation for a weak chin .

George was all around a better fighter as well .

Foreman on points in my opinion .

No question it would be one of the toughest and most frustrating fights of his career .

 

Larry Holmes wanted so badly to fight Big George, but it never happened, hmmm ... ? And if he had gotten the chance in the 70's, 80's, or 90's for that matter, Holmes would have fought Foreman the same way that Tommy Morrison did (with the same results), except Larry Holmes was a MUCH better boxer than Morrison and had a far better chin.
Hey, I like Foreman, and if he had taken Ali out with some of those big hits in the early rounds of their fight, he would probably have been declared the "Greatest of All Time" on the spot. However, Ali, who had an incredible chin himself, got past those early hits and went on to exploit the cracks in Foreman's armor - the same weaknesses that Holmes, being the great boxer that he was, would have exploited en route to his own certain win against George Foreman.
Incidentally, rumor has it that a second biography of Larry Holmes is in the works (actually I read it in a Tennessee newspaper a few months ago)!