Young Foreman (1973) vs. current HWs ?

Choose any prize from the top shelf

 

He takes all of today's crew without breaking a sweat.

Only guys in recent memory to give him some trouble might be Vitali and/or Lennox.

But even there, my money would be leaning towards George.

 

There's no dealing with nostalgia crazed fans.

 

Newbie fanboys sure keep those of us who have followed the game a long time amused.

 

Foreman would struggle. He has no size nor weight advantage over modern day HWs. That's his biggest asset in the 1970s, because technically he's nothing to write home about.

 

Foreman's biggest asset was his power.

 

A 217lbs fighter like 1973 Foreman may look powerful when beating up 205lbs guys who would be CWs today. It's all relative. Foreman appeared "big" and "powerful" in the 70s. He would NOT be a big nor powerful heavyweight today. The only asset that would set Foreman apart today would be above average technical boxing skills which he did not possess.

Ali had exceptional skill so IMO Ali would do better today since he did not rely on physical parameters as much as Foreman did. Take away Ali's or Holmes' height advantage they still do well. Take away Foreman's height and weight advantage what does he still bring to the table?

 

The early 70s version of Foreman just knocked them out. Big or small, it made no difference.

There is nothing to suggest Foreman couldn't have knocked out bigger opponents, and it is pure guesswork to suggest that he couldn't have.

When Foreman fought Frazier he was something like 37-0 and only about 3 opponents had managed to go the distance with him.

Foreman's biggest asset was his power. Everybody who has followed boxing for more than 5 minutes knows that.

Foreman is one of the hardest punching heavyweights in history. That much is indisputable.

 

the only thing foreman doesnt share with clowns today is being a gassing fatboy who took on boxing late because he was useless at everything else.

 

You mean Foreman knocked out Cruiserweights? How does that give us any hint of how he would deal with 245lbs, 6"6+ heavyweights?

 

This is a really difficult one, I think George would KO Wilder and Haye for sure. George had underrated boxing skill he just relied on his power too much. Loading up on ever shot, throwing punches out windows etc

 

Very true, they seem to have a very distorted view of reality. Its like talking to my grandpops who keeps telling me the burgers in the 50s tasted much better than 'all the junk today'. You can't argue with them, its not a rational discussion.

 

Your grandpops might be right though. They weren't pumping meat full of chemicals back then like they do today. Now so much stuff is processed, or filled with additives, growth hormones etc, it's ridiculous. Meat back then was much more likely to be natural, and the real deal.