You are Foreman...1977

The way things played out for George I wouldn't change a thing...

 

No I am not.

 

On paper, he skipped a very weak period in the divisions history.

Logically, he should probably have gone for it.

 

Not really. Holmes was in his prime for half that period.

 

Physically,he was still a match for a lot of heavies around in '77. Unless their names were Ali,Young and even a neophyte Larry Holmes,at that point. George was pretty screwed up at that juncture,though. Young completed the psychological demolition job set in motion by Ali. A long hiatus was just what Foreman needed.

 

Dempsey, Schmeling and Foreman are the three HW champs who were the ultimate winners in life after boxing.
None of them should have changed a thing they did.

 

Hit the nail on the head:deal

Another point I'd like to make is though Foreman was one of the most gifted physical specimen's not only in boxing but possibly in history of the world, hes a modern day Goliath, his head clearly wasn't right for boxing at the time he stepped away. It doesn't matter how much of a phenom you are if you're head isn't in the right place you will eventually get beat by a fighter whos head is...

 

I could thrown in Larry Holmes, and although he never held the title, Harry Wills ended up with more money than Jack Dempsey!

 

Ali is getting old, and will soon loose his title to Spinks.

Norton and Shavers are the key kingmakers of the division.

I think we have to say that Foreman left the game, at a time when the division should have been at his mercy.

 

I'm a little concerned about Holmes.
I saw him on TV not long ago, and his speech seems odd.
He was almost unintelligible. Shavers is even worse.

I should have thrown in Gene Tunney. He died at 81, rolling in money.

 

I'm not sure how quantifiable this is outside of anecdote. He would be positively small and compared to today's NFL players. Think of JJ Watt at 6-5, 290, able to bench 225 pounds 38 times and then do something like this...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0gsgyY_QW0

And Watt is certainly no isolated freak in that league, just the most current one that came to mind.

 

I'm not talking about size, I'm talking about just peer strength and power, it doesn't necessarily translate to lifting a lot though I'm sure if Foreman wanted to he could've probably moved a tone of weight around, its a sorta athletic fighting strength that Foreman has. Look at his early career the way he'd just maul his opponents. Their was skill involved but I feel not many heavyweight or people out there could've been nearly as effective as Foreman was with his skill set his God given attributes are what seperated him from the rest.Even in his second career it was like watching men against boys a lot of the time he seemed indestructible the best word that comes to mind to describe Foreman may be just solid, I don't know if there is a more solid man out there that comes to mind he is the unmovable object....

 

George was very strong, no doubt. But I'm not going to anoint him some one in a lifetime talent on that front. He just stood out among his peers. Perralta, who was no giant, did alright against him. Lyle moved George around a bit. George also got away with his patented shoving a lot to move his opponents.

I would wager that guys like McCall and Rahman and Lewis were every bit as strong as Foreman. Likely also, Willard and Carnera were in the same league.