Riddick Bowe vs young George Foreman.

[Shake]

Been thinking about this match for awhile and I can't come to terms with myself. Many sing the praise of Bowe's jab but in this fight I think his surprisingly good inside work would serve him most, particularly his short left hook. The other side of the coin is that Bowe is pretty easy to hit and content to just retaliate instantly while he soaks up the damage, which could cost him against Foreman.

What say you, ESB classic?

[zadfrak]

All George. Bowe just wasn't all that big of a hitter and had to put a million combinations together to possibly get a Foreman out of there. Problem is the Bowe defense while trying to land that amount of punches on a Foreman. Foreman also had 2 uppercuts in there and not 1 like Bowe & threw a nasty left hook off the jab. Just a case of too many punches being thrown and landed by a world class finisher and what's Bowe going to do when hurt anyway?

[Stevie G]

Bowe would give stern resistance for the first few rounds,but once Foreman started connecting,Riddick would n't be mobile enough to avoid too many punches. George Foreman via tko by the fifth or sixth.

[Bokaj]

I have a hard time seeing Foreman taking this. It would be a slugfest, and I think Bowe's superior skill and stamina would be prevail. They are about equal in terms of chin and not much separates them when it comes power. But Bowe is bigger and has clear advantages in skill and stamina. He wins by 7-9 round KO.

[mrbassie]

Foreman. I just think Bowe was too easy to hit.

[Muchmoore]

Foreman. I just think Bowe was too easy to hit.

Foreman's defense consisted of simply pushing his opponent away :lol:.

That works okay if you're against a guy like Joe Frazier who you have massive height and strength advantages over, but not against guys that can match him or come close in size, strength, or power. That's the big reason Lyle came so close to beating him, say what you will about the condition Foreman was in for that match (and it's true) but Foreman struggled with him in large part because Lyle himself was physically strong. Lyle didn't hit that hard, but his physical strength was always very good.

With Bowe, he's facing a 6'5 giant with not only very impressive strength but serious speed and athletic ability. Young Foreman is NOT going to push him back like he did with the dwarfed Joe Frazier and be able to unload bombs on him from a safe distance.

This is a very interesting fight, I'm not sure yet as to who I'd pick.

[The Wanderer]

Also not sure who to pick. I have a feeling that both guys start out the first round or two jabbing, (maybe Bowe getting the better of that because while his jab isn't as strong as Foreman's, it is faster and has more snap) but after that both guys get drawn into fighting as both start hitting each other and it turns into a Foreman-Lyle type shootout.

[Xplosive]

Prime Foreman would have blasted Bowe out within 6 rounds.

[Xplosive]

I have a hard time seeing Foreman taking this. It would be a slugfest, and I think Bowe's superior skill and stamina would be prevail. They are about equal in terms of chin and not much separates them when it comes power. But Bowe is bigger and has clear advantages in skill and stamina. He wins by 7-9 round KO.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

You cant be serious. Foreman was by FAR the bigger puncher.

[Seamus]

Foreman was made of much tougher stuff. Bowe was a frontrunner with porous defense and underwhelming power for a man his size.

[mrbassie]

Foreman's defense consisted of simply pushing his opponent away :lol:.

That works okay if you're against a guy like Joe Frazier who you have massive height and strength advantages over, but not against guys that can match him or come close in size, strength, or power. That's the big reason Lyle came so close to beating him, say what you will about the condition Foreman was in for that match (and it's true) but Foreman struggled with him in large part because Lyle himself was physically strong. Lyle didn't hit that hard, but his physical strength was always very good.

With Bowe, he's facing a 6'5 giant with not only very impressive strength but serious speed and athletic ability. Young Foreman is NOT going to push him back like he did with the dwarfed Joe Frazier and be able to unload bombs on him from a safe distance.

This is a very interesting fight, I'm not sure yet as to who I'd pick.
I can change the names Frazier and Lyle for Holyfield and Golota and make what you wrote read as very favourable to Foreman.
I do see where you're coming from but I just can't see a guy with no defence lasting against Foreman.

[Bokaj]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

You cant be serious. Foreman was by FAR the bigger puncher.

No, I don't think so. He was a bigger puncher, but not by that much.

[Xplosive]

No, I don't think so. He was a bigger puncher, but not by that much.

Your badly mistaken.

[ripcity]

I think this comes down to who can best take the other guy's punches. Foreman hits harder than Bowe but he leaves himself wide open. Bowe is the better all around boxer.
oreman was stoped by Ali who is a lot of things but being a KO puncher is not one of those things. Bowe to my knlodge has never been stoped (enless you count being hit in the balls by Golita in their two fights).
Considering Foreman's punching power I can see him winning inside of 5 rounds. But if it goes longer I think Bowe wins either by stopage him self or by decision winning all the rounds from 7-12.

[laxpdx]

I'll say Foreman late, if he's not stopped first. I feel it's possible that Bowe, given his height advantage, just may get the drop on Big George. If Riddick can unload on him early and often enough, he could have Foreman in trouble.

[Longhhorn71]

Bowe got a taste of Lennox's power in the amateurs, and he threw his hvywt belt into the trash can to avoid fighting Lennox again.

First time George unloads on him he will think it is deja vu all over again.

[tommygun711]

What would bother me about this fight is that Foreman can't push around Bowe... When Bowe would come inside Foreman would have trouble. Briggs could do it, he would go inside and pepper his body with uppercuts and George just covered up, because Briggs is his same size.
I'm gonna go with foreman anyway

[Bonecrusher]

I would say Foreman by tko around the 5th round. Bowe was a tough guy, I saw him hurt in many fights (Holyfield, Golota, heck Tyrell Biggs rocked him good early) but he was hard to KO how ever I think Foreman may be the hardest puncher Bowe has ever faced in the Pros. I see Bowe being very much in the fight but I just see Foreman connecting enough on Bowe who was not a great defensive fighter to score a tko because I think Bowe will remain on his feet but take alot of big shots which will force the stoppage.

[R.B.J]

Rounds 1-3 both fighters drop bombs on each other, with Foreman slightly getting the better of the action. Bowe gets on his bike for round 4 and wins it easily. In round 5 Foreman rocks Bowe, Bowe gets pissed decides he's going to go toe to toe with Foreman and gets knocked out.

Foreman 5th round K.O. But Bowe definitely has the skills to win a decision.

[DudeGuyMan]

Bowe got a taste of Lennox's power in the amateurs, and he threw his hvywt belt into the trash can to avoid fighting Lennox again.

First time George unloads on him he will think it is deja vu all over again.

:deal

[gooners!!]

Id say Bowe, Foreman was hurt by Jimmy Young, so even though Bowe is an accumulation puncher, i think he would have more than enough to hurt Foreman, who also did not have the greatest stamina.

I say Bowe boxes smart early whilst Foreman is fresh and at his most devastating, punching powerwise, then Boxes his way to a decision as George starts to tire around the mid way to latter part of the fight.

[MAG1965]

Bowe was a big guy in his prime and I could see him stopping an old and young George both. Both had a great left hook, and a decent right.

[Pachilles]

Its hypothetical matchups like these i feel that really show how flawed 'on paper' really is. The boxing skill gets overrated and destructive natural ability takes a backseat. A good comparison is how these highly intelligent engineers design these quake proof buildings. Theyre so detailed and built to perfection, calculated and worked on for long periods of time. And then the crude rock beneath casually shakes its lil tushy and turns it into a pile of dust.

I think people forget or didnt see how effectively brutal Foreman was. And you dont make a combeback when you're ancient at top level if you have no skill.

[les]

foreman gets him out very early.easy fight

[DudeGuyMan]

The level to which Foreman is underrated around here is absolutely criminal. To hear it told, he was some bum with clubbing ineffectual punches and no chin who would automatically self-destruct in the 6th round of any fight, easily defeated by whatever fat piece of shit some poster wants to match him with.

If Foreman/Frazier were a hypothetical ESB matchup, you'd hear the same wankers prattling on about what an easy fight it is for Frazier, and predicting his victory via TKO. After all, the mighty Frazier would never be stopped by those wide clubbing punches, and after a few rounds Foreman would just sort of fall over. Hur hur.

Instead they're reduced to claiming that Frazier was somehow shot (despite being a 29 year old undefeated reigning champ with great fights and good wins still ahead) and bitching that Foreman ducked real killers like... I dunno... Jerry Quarry or something.

When in doubt, bring up the Lyle fight to prove that your pet bum would win by KO. Even though Lyle was a solid contender and Foreman won the fight. But don't you dare bring up the fact that Lennox Lewis was starched twice by bums whenever he comes up for discussion.

Bah!

Seriously, Bowe sucked.

[ThinBlack]

I think Foreman would stop Bowe late, around the eighth or ninth round.If Riddick followed Eddie Futch's game plan, he would have a shot, but I feel that wouldn't happen, at some point George is going to catch him, and Riddick is going to end up on the canvas.But Bowe would rock him early.

[SuzieQ49]

DudeGuyMan that was the most intelligent thing anybody has ever said here. Don't bring up the fact Lewis was iced by 1 punch by 2 3rd tier fighters. Don't bring up the fact the Wlad was knocked out 3 times by C level or worse fighters, Dont bring up the fact that Joe Louis was hurt big time by light punching Billy Conn. Don't bring up that Tyson was knocked out 5 times in his career.

I actually seen one moron say George Foreman couldnt take a punch because Ali knocked him down but then turn around and say Tyson had a great chin because it took Buster Douglas a bum 10 rounds to knock him out.

In every fantasy fight about Foreman people will mention how horrible his stamina is. I guess getting tired in 2 fights proves you have bad stamina. I guess it is ok for Lennox Lewis and Wlad Klitschko to gas out though.

In every fantasy fight about Foreman you will hear how slow his hands were yet you never hear this about Rocky Marcinao who actually had slow hands. Foreman's hands weren't close to being slow, His hook was wide but so was Lewis. Most Taller guys dont even throw hooks to began with.

Even Foreman's prime size is wrong with these people, Foreman was listed as 6'3 1/2 and weighed about 230 when he started off. For some reason Sadler made him lose weight and that is why he was lighter during his time with Sadler. As soon as he went to Gil Clancey he went back to his prime weight of 230.

In any case Riddick Bowe didnt suck but there is no weight he would beat a prime Foreman. As somebody said he feared Lewis power which is why he avoided him. Even if he managed to knock Foreman down Foreman showed he could get back up and win.

I would even pick the Foreman who fought Holyfiedl to stop a prime Bowe. A prime Foreman would get Riddick out of there in less than 5.

:lol::lol::lol::rofl:rofl:rofl

[Sardu]

Foreman. I just think Bowe was too easy to hit.


ditto

[TheGreatA]

I wouldn't be surprised if Foreman just wrecked Bowe. Bowe didn't fight too many punchers, arguably was kept away from them, and there's no doubt that he could be hit. On the other hand he was a very big heavyweight at 6'5, 235 lbs, even bigger than "Big" George, and was more polished than Foreman in some areas, such as infighting, and he did show his toughness on numerous occasions although against inferior punchers than Foreman.

It largely depends on how Bowe can handle Foreman's power, because as much as I've tried to imagine it, I just don't see Bowe being cautious and boxing like a master in the early rounds against Foreman. He's going to engage because that was his style.

[djanders]

George's strength and power were on a whole other level compared to Bowe. No matter how hard I try, I just can't imagine a way for Bowe to win this. I'm going with George, in a big way, in this match-up!