What would Michael Moorer's career look like if he had beaten Foreman?

If he still has the title, it might be difficult for Holyfield & a rising Lennox Lewis to get Moorer into the ring. Although I feel he’s sometimes too quickly dismissed, Moorer certainly was beatable. My guess is he tries avoiding Holyfield & Lewis to preserve his belt & either succeeds for a little while until they become impossible to ignore, or he gets caught by a lesser threat.

 

He would have been derailed sooner than later. He had poor training habits, a mandible that wasn't quite up to par for the division (especially that era), and none of the height, length or strength to protect that mandible from getting touched.

That said...he was a POTENT offensive machine and a southpaw. Did he remain active, he could have taken a top scalp or two. I think a battle between he and Lewis would have been a lot of fun.

 

I actually considered Tua as one of the ‘lesser threats’ Moorer might face while avoiding Holyfield.

 

We have Moorer vs Tucker in 1995. TnT was unlucky with Seldon but he was clearly getting old and MM should have won. Then probably Botha/Seldon - Michael wins again but there is nothing exciting about it. In 1996, there was a title unification: Moorer vs. Tyson and Holyfield was the winner. I don't think Moorer had much against Tyson, but he certainly would have given him a good fight and more rounds than Seldon. It could be a great fight and would be a bit overrated for Mike, just like the fight with Bruno, I think Tyson would win by KO. Moorer would still be in the position he is now.

 

Again, his propensity to rumble and his tin mandible make betting on him a fool's errand, but watching him must-see-TV.

I really do think he tags Lewis and makes for a quick but difficult night for Lenny. I wouldn't favor him here but wouldn't be shocked if he pulled it off. Fast, technical southpaw with lots of pop. He was really, really good offensively. Think something similar to a shorter Corrie Sanders, a little more technically sound.

 

I’m guessing he’d hold on to the title for a couple more defenses and then lose to either Holy, Tyson or Lewis.

 

He would've been upended no matter what by Evander or by Lennox. He still was pedestrian against Axel S. By then Lennox had gotten his feet back under him and was beating up Tommy Morrison. One of those fights would've been forced. He wasn't meant to reign very long

 

I always liked Moorer and enjoyed how he fought. If I loved him or worked with him, I would've hated how he fought, granted. That said, I don't see anything that different. In a way, it might've been luckier that Foreman is the one who did it, for MM's own legacy. But I feel like either way, I rate him the same whether it's some rando puncher or a legend that does him in. Because it would've happened no matter who it was. It's interesting, about Briggs, because I really enjoyed Briggs' career too, and feel he gets undersold as part of a great era, who could be really on point, on some nights, and was a fairly talented man, himself, little as I see anyone say it. But he was a talented athlete back then. He wasn't as technically skilled as Moorer, no, but he was built as a heavyweight more for the era to balance that out between them. It came out to a similar not-great, but clearly respectable temporary-championship-material guy. In a monster era, even being that is something.

But back on topic, I can only say I see Moorer being dethroned quick and even as you mention at light heavyweight, I always feel like Debbie Downer when someone starts chirping about his great run there and I come in like "No, as deadly as he was for a light heavyweight body, he was boiled down and not fighting much quality there and his title was borderline bogus at the time. This was was not a legend moving up. This was not Jinx or Charles going on. He was a very cool puncher with a trinket." I gotta go with consensus that he's just a natural placeholder type of champion, Foreman or no. I don't know if that's erring on the unfair side though.

 

If he could comfortably still make the weight then probably very well

 

He’d have a good chance at beating Lewis for mine around 1994-95, maybe even ’96. Lewis got better thereafter & by the time he was at his peak, around 1997-98, he’d steamroll Moorer.