What if...Foremans church had needed money 5 years earlier?

[Bricks]

As a kid I was fascinated by Big Georges return in 1987-88. I was 9 years old and already obsessive about watching boxing.

To me i couldnt beleive he was fighting, having only seen my dads tapes of his 70's fights where he looked like king kong. To a 9 -10 year old 40 was ancient!!!!!!

As the decades have rolled on and now I am the one who is only 8 years away from 40 Bog George Foreman continues to be a source of fascination.

Since his athletic success in his 40's twenty years earlier....... the world of sports has moved on , we dont even blink at late 30, early 40 champions and contenders in sports anymore........ , BHop, Roy Jones jnr, Calzaghe, Virgil Hill, Tarver, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture,Barry Bonds,Vitali Klitchko, Lennox Lewis, the list goes on and on.

An intriguing question for me is...........what if Foreman's church in Humble Texas had started to become desperate for funds 5 years earlier, and not in late 86? What if big George had had to come back 5 years earlier in March 1982 and not March 87?!!!!!

Would we have seen better fights?

Would George have been a better fighter as allied with his second careers iron chin, much improved skills and defence, and ability to go 12 rounds more comfortably he would also have been 5 years younger?

The prospect of Foreman after 5-6 warm ups facing a Larry Holmes in 1984 who was still at or close to his peak would have been mouth watering..........but what of seeing a second coming Foreman as the undisputed HW champion by 1985/early 86 and crush Michael Spinks, and than looking down from his throne see Iron Mike rise through the ranks like a tornado????!!!! What if it had been a George foreman-Mike Tyson title fight in november 1986 and not Berbick-Tyson!!!!!

I think other good title fights of a earlier Foreman reign would have been against a peak Pinklon Thomas and what about shoot outs with Mike Weaver and Bonecrusher Smith!!!!

[oliverfennell]

I was much the same as you. I got hooked on boxing in the early 90s, and I was 13 when Foreman challenged Holyfield. Like you, the idea of a guy in his 40s fighting for the world heavyweight title was unfathomable to such a youngster! Consequently he captured my imagination and was one of my earliest favourites. I remember it was also a surprise when Larry Holmes came back and did so well, and only the other day I was thinking the same as you; that such situations today are nowhere near as surprising. Consider Holyfield himself had a few title shots in his 40s and his age alone didn't cause anybody to go "woah!". In fact, even if, say, Lewis or Tyson made comebacks now, and fought their way to title shots, neither would seem to be as amazing as Foreman and Holmes doing it, even though they were slightly younger.