the rumble...who else could have beaten foreman?

[misterpunch]

i dont think too many other fighters could have stood up to the bombardment foreman dished out to ali in zaire before he finally ran out of gas and ideas.

any candidates?

[Ezzard]

I think that Ali smothered and spoiled all of Foreman’s work to the point where George barely landed a flush shot and never more than one or two at a time. There were some solid body punches… and Ali barely missed a shot. Amazing performance.

Foreman was also suffering from puncher’s syndrome. He’d barely fought a handful of rounds over a number of years…just like Liston going into the Ali fight…Tyson going into the Douglas fight…

I’d say Young and Holmes would have probably won. Witherspoon would have had a chance. Tunney, Walcott, Charles all have the skills depends on if their smaller size prevents them from competing. If it doesn’t, I say all three have a great chance.

Big IF….but IF Holyfield, Marciano, Jeffries are standing after 5 rounds, and aren’t too busted up, then they’d have a great chance to go on to win.

[Bricks]

Its easy to forget just what a murderous puncher young Foreman was. If you look at Alis face during the first few rounds he knew that already and was a man fighting for his life especially the 1st round.

the "punchers " analogy with Tyson and Liston is a v good one he hadnt had many rounds the previous few years.

Young is the obvious answer and Holmes could have done it. I dont witherspoon would have survived or any of the others....but than i rate Foreman v v highly. I have him as a top 5 ATG HW.

[misterpunch]

hhmm..i dont think that a busy heavyweight would have beaten george that night and in that heat/humidity. ali cut down his work rate and smothered effectively but nonetheless took some big, big shots to head and body. credit to his will power and ability to soak em up and look unhurt. but some of those clubbing shots would have felled a rhino. holmes is the pick for me but even his chin/ribs woulda been severely tested

[HomicideHenry]

The only man strong enough, tough enough, and big enough to of taken that kind of pummeling would have been Jim Jeffries (of the swarmers). Of the tacticians, I would venture to say a man like Walcott or Charles or even Corbett wouldn't of given Foreman the chance to of landed on them, let alone have to endure punishment on the ropes. Evander Holyfield's chances I think would be high too, he's demonstrated time after time the kind of punches he can take; it wasnt until late in life did we see him ever get stopped. CONDITIONING means everything. I think Liston would of lasted too. Marciano, much as I love him and Jack Dempsey too, their best chance would of been to of tried to of taken George out as soon as they could, and nobody was ever to really stop Foreman (true Ali won but that was a TKO Foreman was simply gassed out). Its hard for me to imagine someone being able to take Foreman's punches for too long; what Ali did was nothing short of a miracle. But then again conditioning is everything, so its possible Marciano and Dempsey could have survived the storm long enough. Another candidate? John L. Sullivan. In his prime he could go two hours without error, and his tremendous offense kept men useless in the ring (in his words "I never felt a blow in my life"), in combination with bare knuckles and the era of fighting constantly and sheer determination may of been enough of an equalizer to keep Foreman off him. Another candidate? Jack Johnson. Never have I seen a man who was as skilled as he was strong and TOUGH, that man just smiled and laughed his ass off after getting headbutted a dozen times by Jim Flynn. He fought monster hitters like George, and could go 20 plus rounds with them.

[Syntax Error]

i dont think too many other fighters could have stood up to the bombardment foreman dished out to ali in zaire before he finally ran out of gas and ideas.

any candidates?

I doubt any other fighter could have beaten Foreman the way Ali did, but I think there a few who could have beaten him by using speed & skills; the 60s Ali springs to mind.

[keithmoonhangover]

Not one person will agree with me, but a prime Joe Bugner would have beaten Foreman. I'm as sure of that I was about Banks beating Mitchell.

[misterpunch]

it would help if you could explain such a theory

[HomicideHenry]

Not one person will agree with me, but a prime Joe Bugner would have beaten Foreman. I'm as sure of that I was about Banks beating Mitchell.

I am not sure about beating George, but I think Bugner out of all of them had the best shot of going a full fifteen rounds with George. He went 27 rounds with Ali, went the distance with Frazier, etc. He had that style, toughness, and conditioning to of kept away from George, but Bugner did not have that killer instinct or aggression to of beaten George, just wasnt his style, he was a live and let live type of fighter he only did what he had to to either win or surivive.

[dempseyfire]

Who else in history? I'd name a few: Johnson, Louis, Holmes, Dempsey, possibly Jefferies.

Foreman fought like crap in Zaire . . .completely abandoned his best weapon the left jab because he'd believed his own press about no-one being able to stand up to his power and that Ali was an old man.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Could? Johnson, Holmes, Louis, Holyfield, Walcott, Liston, Young, Witherspoon, Dempsey,etc...

Very poor performance from Foreman, taking those kind of body shots wouldn't be advisable, but he looked like shit.

I'll tell you couldn't have beat him- WLAD!

[misterpunch]

i dont think i'd have paid to see that

[Nile4000]

Lennox Lewis, definitely. Possibly Riddick Bowe.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Lennox Lewis, definitely. Possibly Riddick Bowe.

[Nile4000]

Lennox Lewis, definitely. Possibly Riddick Bowe.

If he only had the strength.

[The Great John L]

Who else in history? I'd name a few: Johnson, Louis, Holmes, Dempsey, possibly Jefferies.

Foreman fought like crap in Zaire . . .completely abandoned his best weapon the left jab because he'd believed his own press about no-one being able to stand up to his power and that Ali was an old man.

Unfortunately George didn't really learn how to use his jab until after the Lyle fight. He had a great jab, but once Ali started pot shotting the defenseless guy from the opening bell, George forgot all about the jab. Lyle also was quite effective with landing lead rights when they fought, and it almost got him the upset.

A lot of guys could have beaten the slow, sloppy Foreman of Zaire.

[witherspoon]

Lennox Lewis, definitely. Possibly Riddick Bowe.

Cross-thread humour at its best.

[The Great John L]

Somehow I don't think Newman would have allowed Big Daddy to get anywhere near a prime Foreman. Bowe had size and excellent offensive skills, but he wasn't very good at avoiding punches.

[The Great John L]

Not one person will agree with me, but a prime Joe Bugner would have beaten Foreman. I'm as sure of that I was about Banks beating Mitchell.

While I wouldn't favor him, I think Bugner would have had an excellent chance. He was actually bigger than George, had a decent jab, footwork and defense and also had a very good chin. George didn't exacly walk through another tall opponent, O'Halloran, so it's hardly a stretch to think that a much more skilled fighter like Bugner could have beaten him.