Which heavyweight could outslug prime George Foreman?

[check hook]

Tyson
Liston
Louis

stand a chance of catching and hurting him with crisper shots mid-exchange, but I wouldn't necessarily bet on it.

first response and probably the best one. Foreman always said Liston is the one fighter he could never get to back up (they sparred). Louis loved it when his opponent came to him, and Iron Mike needs no explanation.

[joseph5620]

what would be the point of lying ? these great champions like Ali, Foreman, Frazier, etc., they all have huge egos, why would he genuinely admit he feared a man he has never fought ?

You can believe what you want. That's your right but it makes no sense. Quarry was not more dangerous than Ali, Norton, or Frazier. A boxer that is truly afraid would not have fought Norton and Frazier in the way Foreman did IMO. He was poised and in control both fights. I think we have all seen scared fighters in the ring including Michael Spinks aginst Tyson. I have seen Foreman contradict and play fast and loose with the facts for his own benefit. What Foreman says now is totally different from his actions in the 70's.Everything Foreman does in front of the camera and during interviews is carefully executed for his image. I have seen him without the cameras and he is not the same person and not nearly as humble as he wants people to believe.

[JAB5239]

You can believe what you want. That's your right but it makes no sense. Quarry was not more dangerous than Ali, Norton, or Frazier. A boxer that is truly afraid would not have fought Norton and Frazier in the way Foreman did IMO. He was poised and in control both fights. I think we have all seen scared fighters in the ring including Michael Spinks aginst Tyson. I have seen Foreman contradict and play fast and loose with the facts for his own benefit. What Foreman says now is totally different from his actions in the 70's.Everything Foreman does in front of the camera and during interviews is carefully executed for his image. I have seen him without the cameras and he is not the same person and not nearly as humble as he wants people to believe.

I met him at the Briggs-Lewis fight in Atlantic city and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. But I agree with you totally that he carefully chooses his words when discussing his career to match his public image. That said, I think he would have destroyed Quarry, but he really didn't want any part of him for what ever reason.

[BKM-2010]

You can believe what you want. That's your right but it makes no sense. Quarry was not more dangerous than Ali, Norton, or Frazier. A boxer that is truly afraid would not have fought Norton and Frazier in the way Foreman did IMO. He was poised and in control both fights. I think we have all seen scared fighters in the ring including Michael Spinks aginst Tyson. I have seen Foreman contradict and play fast and loose with the facts for his own benefit. What Foreman says now is totally different from his actions in the 70's.Everything Foreman does in front of the camera and during interviews is carefully executed for his image. I have seen him without the cameras and he is not the same person and not nearly as humble as he wants people to believe.

In my opinion it's really not strange. Styles make fights. Quarry looked like he would have Foreman's number. You can't look at his fights against Frazier, Norton etc. Norton, Frazier and Chuvalo were all styles mismatches against Foreman and everybody thought Ali was done for. Jerry Quarry's track record showed the opposite. He also beat a guy who was the most similar to Foreman(Ron Lyle). So it's not that hard to believe that Foreman ducked him. I also always thought he might have ducked Holmes as well.

[Tiozzo]

You can believe what you want. That's your right but it makes no sense. Quarry was not more dangerous than Ali, Norton, or Frazier. A boxer that is truly afraid would not have fought Norton and Frazier in the way Foreman did IMO. He was poised and in control both fights. I think we have all seen scared fighters in the ring including Michael Spinks aginst Tyson. I have seen Foreman contradict and play fast and loose with the facts for his own benefit. What Foreman says now is totally different from his actions in the 70's.Everything Foreman does in front of the camera and during interviews is carefully executed for his image. I have seen him without the cameras and he is not the same person and not nearly as humble as he wants people to believe.

Stylewise, I do believe Quarry was more dangerous than the punchers like Norton and Frazier who came forward and exchanged. The Jimmy Young fight is kind of a proof of that, Foreman would struggle with a powerful counterpuncher like Quarry.

I believe someone else agrees on that in a previous post.

[Kid McCoy]

In my opinion it's really not strange. Styles make fights. Quarry looked like he would have Foreman's number. You can't look at his fights against Frazier, Norton etc. Norton, Frazier and Chuvalo were all styles mismatches against Foreman and everybody thought Ali was done for. Jerry Quarry's track record showed the opposite. He also beat a guy who was the most similar to Foreman(Ron Lyle). So it's not that hard to believe that Foreman ducked him. I also always thought he might have ducked Holmes as well.

I think too much is read into that Lyle win. That was Lyle's first major step-up in class against a much more experienced opponent and his first fight at Madison Square Garden. Imo he froze on the night. Even so, it's not as if Lyle was a Foreman clone. Foreman hit harder, had a better chin (very important as Quarry rocked Lyle several times) and was simply a better fighter. I find it very hard to believe that Foreman was running scared of Quarry based on one fight with a fairly inexperienced slugger, especially since he fought three fighters who had already stopped Quarry, and another who went on to stop Quarry.

Furthermore, no one was a worse style match-up for Foreman than Jimmy Young, who handled Lyle twice, and Foreman fought him too. I think the comparison to Young is moot as Young was a great defensive fighter and very hard to hit cleanly. No one ever complained about Quarry being hard to find and usually anyone Foreman found (unless they were insanely tough like Ali) went down.

As to the original question, the fighters I'd give the best chance against Foreman specifically in a slugfest would be Liston, Louis, Tyson, Tua and Ike. I suppose Bowe could do it on the off-chance he showed up in good shape, although it doesn't bode well for him that the best big prime heavyweight he stood toe to toe with battered him senseless. McCall is also a shrewd choice; strong, granite chin, good stamina and a powerful right hand, although again it depends which McCall shows up. On form, what odds on his chin outlasting Foreman's stamina? Whoever won they'd all be classics.

[joseph5620]

Stylewise, I do believe Quarry was more dangerous than the punchers like Norton and Frazier who came forward and exchanged. The Jimmy Young fight is kind of a proof of that, Foreman would struggle with a powerful counterpuncher like Quarry.

I believe someone else agrees on that in a previous post.

I don't think Jimmy Young and Quarry were similar at all. Young had a difficult style and was hard to hit cleanly. Quarry was not hard to hit. And if you watch Nortons fight with Foreman, he didn't come foward at all.He tried to counterpunch Foreman.

[joseph5620]

In my opinion it's really not strange. Styles make fights. Quarry looked like he would have Foreman's number. You can't look at his fights against Frazier, Norton etc. Norton, Frazier and Chuvalo were all styles mismatches against Foreman and everybody thought Ali was done for. Jerry Quarry's track record showed the opposite. He also beat a guy who was the most similar to Foreman(Ron Lyle). So it's not that hard to believe that Foreman ducked him. I also always thought he might have ducked Holmes as well.

I don't think anybody at that time thought Quarry was a tougher fight for Foreman than Ali was. If Foreman was worried about counter punching he would have never stepped in the ring with Ali.

[BKM-2010]

I think too much is read into that Lyle win. That was Lyle's first major step-up in class against a much more experienced opponent and his first fight at Madison Square Garden. Imo he froze on the night. Even so, it's not as if Lyle was a Foreman clone. Foreman hit harder, had a better chin (very important as Quarry rocked Lyle several times) and was simply a better fighter. I find it very hard to believe that Foreman was running scared of Quarry based on one fight with a fairly inexperienced slugger, especially since he fought three fighters who had already stopped Quarry, and another who went on to stop Quarry.

Furthermore, no one was a worse style match-up for Foreman than Jimmy Young, who handled Lyle twice, and Foreman fought him too. I think the comparison to Young is moot as Young was a great defensive fighter and very hard to hit cleanly. No one ever complained about Quarry being hard to find and usually anyone Foreman found (unless they were insanely tough like Ali) went down.

As to the original question, the fighters I'd give the best chance against Foreman specifically in a slugfest would be Liston, Louis, Tyson, Tua and Ike. I suppose Bowe could do it on the off-chance he showed up in good shape, although it doesn't bode well for him that the best big prime heavyweight he stood toe to toe with battered him senseless. McCall is also a shrewd choice; strong, granite chin, good stamina and a powerful right hand, although again it depends which McCall shows up. On form, what odds on his chin outlasting Foreman's stamina? Whoever won they'd all be classics.

Lyle was a raw, powerful slugger against Quarry. Young Foreman was not a technician, so I think the comparison is valid. And while I agree that Foreman was a better fighter, the diffirence is not as huge as you're trying to make it out to be. They both had trouble with Young, both were stopped by Ali but the diffirence is Lyle fought Quarry unlike George. We'll never know if he would have destroyed Quarry or if he would have been picked apart like Shavers, Lyle, Foster etc. All of this adds up and then you have George himself admitting he ducked him(And I highly doubt that he says these things with an agenda. All of the things he's been saying in terms of boxing have only hurt his reputation.)

So in response to this thread, I see Liston and Quarry being able to beat him in a slugfest. What's even more important to this is that George may be mentally beaten before he even steps into the ring.

[BKM-2010]

I don't think anybody at that time thought Quarry was a tougher fight for Foreman than Ali was. If Foreman was worried about counter punching he would have never stepped in the ring with Ali.

Foreman probably bought into the hype and thought he would just walk through the fading, aging Ali.
Btw guys, the great fight with Lyle, if you look at the moments George was hurt the most, it were the big counter punches that nearly finished him because Foreman is so crude.