Mike Tyson vs. George Foreman at the Tokyo Dome in 1990

Douglas winds up dropping out of the match for personal reasons, and with only three and a half weeks to go, George Foreman immediately steps in to face Iron Mike in the Tokyo Dome. What happens?

 

Foreman fucks him up. Mike trained on Japanese pussy for that fight.

 

At least he died happy then....

 

He'd train pretty hard for the last 3 weeks if the opponent changed to Foreman though.

I honestly don't know how this one would have went. Both guys would sustain quite allot of brain damage before one of them fell though.

 

Neither would fall. This is a distance fight, which is rare for two big punchers. Foreman wouldn't hit Tyson as many times as Douglas did, simply because he was much slower. Tyson obviously wouldn't hit Foreman that much either, in that he was out of shape.

 

Foreman would probably beat him, Tyson was not there for this fight

 

Can't imagine any possible way this goes the distance. Neither man is capable of taking a backward step, Foreman doesn't rest/clinch when the other comes in on him, he pushes him off and keeps working. Actually I'd be surprised if it saw the 4th round.

 

Remember we're talking about the older Foreman who wasn't as intense as he was in the 70s. He wouldn't tire.

Tyson-Ruddock went the distance, so did Tua-Ibeabuchi. In both cases, BOTH fighters were aggressive and both punched HARD. Why did the fights go the distance? Answer: in each case both combatants had good chins (Ruddock once had a good chin).

Both Tyson and Old Foreman had rock solid chins. Foreman was slow and didn't throw that many punches. Tyson of the Douglas fight was slow and didn't throw many punches. Distance fight.

 

Buster Douglas was a Big, Athletic, MOTIVATED Motherfucker when he Beat Tyson...The Antithesis of 90's Foreman...Yet & Still, Tyson NEARLY Registered a KO that Night...


Foreman was Waaaaaaaaaaaaay Tooooooooooo SLOW & OLD By Then...Even Tokyo Tyson OUTLANDS Foreman & Wins a CLEAR UD...Fan-Friendly Bout Early Doors, Mundane as it Progresses...






REED:hammert:

 

Can someone show me a single clinch involving crossarm Foreman between 88-91? You'll struggle to find it. Can anyone show me him taking a backwards step except for a couple of times under heavy fire from Holyfield? The only way Foreman stops coming is if you drive him back with your fists and Tyson can only fight that way. There's just no conceivable way this settles into the type of tacitly agreed reduction in hostilities that characterized Tyson Ruddock II or Tyson-Smith. It's a shootout until one of them drops & it wouldnt take long.

 

Nah, you've analyzed this all wrong.

No way either man drops the other. We're not talking about the peak versions of each, we're talking about an under-trained Tyson and an older slower, more patient and less intense Foreman. Tyson's chin was made of the strongest stuff, it took accumulation of punches to take him down. Foreman, in his 40s, was not a high volume fighter. Foreman himself had a rock solid chin (took everything from Moorer and Morrison for example) and so the Tyson of Tokyo is likely not going to drop him.

Whether or not Foreman had a habit of clinching is irrelevant.

 

Nu uh! YOU'VE analyzed this wrong.:will:

If Foreman doesn't tie Tyson up (or allow the converse) then there's no respite for either. It doesn't see the 6th.

 

Sometimes I feel as if late 80s Foreman was a more dangerous fight for Tyson than 73 Foreman.

I know the popular opinion is that 73 Foreman destroys Tyson, but I'm not so sure of that. 73 Foreman was so wide open, with such disregard for defense, that I somewhat suspect that Tyson's speed and precision would have been too much for him.

 

Is it? I am not sure, in fact I believe most would pick Tyson, for the reasons you gave

I agree with you that the old Foreman with more patience, plenty of confidence and seemingly a better chin would have a better chance of defeating Tyson, whereas the younger version of Foreman would be much more dangerous to Holyfield.

As for this fight, I really don't know. Tyson didn't lose to Douglas only because he hadn't trained, Douglas fought a helluva fight too and had the style to beat Tyson. Foreman wouldn't be able to repeat that, but he might be able to force Tyson back and break him down that way.

It's a very interesting fight but a toss-up too

 

I'd pick 73 Foreman over any Tyson, frankly

 

That's a 50/50 fight i think

 

That fight would be like watching a 100 megaton bomb explode. It'll be all about seeing who's standing once the smoke clears and the dust settles.

 

I have no problem with that, but I think it's debatable.

I know it's based on Foreman-Frazier, but Tyson was a different animal than Frazier.

Honestly, if 73 Foreman and 88 Tyson fought 10 times, I think you'd be looking at 5-5.

 

I think Mike's hand speed and power would be tough for any version of Foreman to deal with.

 

To me Foreman-Lyle should be weighted as much as Foreman-Frazier when you're thinking about Foreman-Tyson

I don't think young Foreman would necessarily have a better chance than (87-91) old Foreman actually. The added weight would be a real benefit for him in that one.

 

Mike also had a better chin than 70's Foreman, which should be considered.

I dunno what made Foreman's chin so much better post-retirement. I suspect it had something to do with the extra weight he added. 70's Foreman seemed a bit UNDERWEIGHT. George was coming in like 218-225, when really with Foreman's size and frame he shoulda been closer to 235-240 in his prime.

 

IMO Foreman-Lyle was an outlier. I'd remove it from the statistical analysis.

 

I'd pick prime Tyson over any version of Foreman. He was just so fucking fast and accurate and powerful, it was unreal. Foreman doesn't have the style to beat Tyson. He was fairly slow, sloppy, and hittable.

In a shootout, I'll pick the guy with a massive edge in speed and accuracy and punching technique. And defense.

 

To play Devil's Advocate (which as a Tyson groupie takes a lot for me to say) what Foreman DID have going for him against Tyson was that brutal right uppercut of his. And the uppercut was always the punch Tyson was most susceptible to. He also has his physical strength going for him, and if he could constantly push Mike back, Tyson would be in trouble.

Both were fast starters, so I guess it just comes down to what comes into play first, Tyson's speed or Foreman's strength. The early rounds would decide everything. If Tyson could reach and hurt Foreman early, Foreman would be fucked since Tyson was arguably the best finisher in boxing history. If Foreman could hurt Tyson and consistently push him back, then Mike would be fucked since we know Tyson couldn't fight backing up.

 

Why?

 

Lyle was over 6'3 to start with and both guys fought out of character in the bout

 

Taller or not, Lyle probably aped Tyson at least as much as Frazier did, imo. Tyson didn't try to get in then work in the way Frazier did, he fired big shots from range. Just pushing him away every time he got in punching range wouldn't nullify Mike the same way

I don't see how George fought out of character, personally....he was more matador than bull against frazier too until he hurt Joe

 

Foreman was in immediate, post Ali-no confidence in my chin and abilities-mode. That's not the same Foreman who destroyed Frazier and Norton, IMHO.

 

This, too... He was fighting like a guy desperate to score a spectacular immediate KO

 

Frazier was leaping in with the hooks early on and Foreman was leaning back from them and then shoving him back to hit him... As for the Lyle fight, I think you're too easily dismissing the size difference between Lyle and Tyson... Lyle was a big guy, close to Foreman's size with longer arms than Tyson... They're extremely dissimilar fighters... Also, as Sly pointed out accurately, Foreman was a wreck after losing to Ali and he came out wild as hell in that fight like he was trying to kill Lyle in 30 seconds... He fought an insanely stupid fight...