Friend of mine sparred with George before the Everett Martin fight and he said George dug a left to the body and even though he was wearing sparring protection he couldn't breathe for a week. Said his hands were so heavy it was like being hit with a slab of concrete. They went 20 two minute rounds and after 20 rounds he was dying but said George was ready to go for another five more, he said George doesn't get credit for his cardio work as he should have, he says he constantly skips rope while he's training for a fight.
Foreman must be so fuckin scary to fight. He's huge, looks like he's sleep walking in there, and is so patient. Not to mention his power, which is just insane.
@@nickfanzo I think Foreman and Liston had the most devastating jabs of any two fighters in HW history. They were both capable of knocking a guy out just throwing that lead hand. It’s scary to even imagine.
I'll always remember Evander Holyfield saying that when he was fighting George he got hit once in the mouth and when he got back to his corner he asked his team if he still had his teeth.
remember watching this with my dad . i was 15 we ordered a pizza couple bottles of coke had a guys night watching big george. now im 6 years older than george was in this fight time flies lol
Like a small handful of other boxers, Big George has achieved his own legacy for what he has done inside and outside the ring. His legacy is unlikely to be matched.
I'll say for Ellis - he took that smash hybrid punch from Foreman that short circuited his entire nervous system, probably made him piss/shit himself, and yet Jimmy kept wading in and throwing bombs right after. Tough SOB.
Thanks for these entire broadcast lost my collection of vhs tapes when I got married. Brings back some good memories Do you have Bowe - Golota 1 would love that entire broadcast
Yeah, Tyson avoided George at all cost. Cus told a Mike that swarming fighters like he and Frazier could never beat Foremen because of his tremendous physical strength and nuclear uppercuts would be waiting for swarmers everytime they tried they tried to come from underneath to attack. I grew up watching Iron Mike and love him to death. With that said, not fighting the big man was the best boxing decision Tyson ever made. Mike could take one hell of a punch. But he certainly wouldn't have been able to take many clean uppercuts from Big George. Then again, who the hell ever did. Cheers.
Well cus wouldn’t have said that as foreman had been retired for years tyson was 19 when cus died and foreman didn’t come back until several years after cus died
@@oldironsides4107 what he actually said was while they watched a lot of the old fights when they were watching Foreman Fraser Custom Auto said that foreman ate up small Fighters and that Tyson would never be able to beat a fighter like Foreman he would eat him up for breakfast he didn't of course know that foreman would come out of retirement in 87
@@oldironsides4107 I was also skeptical for a long time about the supposed unwillingness of Tyson to fight Foreman but I was proven otherwise when I actually saw an interview with Tyson after he was defeated by Buster Douglas and the interviewer I think was Letterman said I know that you said that you never wanted to fight Foreman but will you end up fighting him anyways and he said have half-heartedly we'll fight
Big George had such an odd fighting style. He didnt really tire much and just kept those rolling punches going. He would take a huge punch without blinking. He was like a bear.
Alex Garcia was offered this fight against Foreman but he turned down a close to 1 million dollar payday. Garcia's next fight, he got knocked out in 2 of his next 3 fights. Foreman greatest ever!
@@TheBatugan77 that are real examples , Jimmy Ellis was a black Boxer WHO lost the title to Joe Frazier He ha the Same Name . But IT blows My mind , what happened to Sammy sosa over the years ... Unreal
I wonder how Ellis is today cognitively. This type of beating had to have lasting damages. George was sitting down on heavy shots and was trying not to finish him. Then instinct kicked in and it’s either kill or be killed
Big George is the hardest hitting heavyweight ever...He in his 40s still knocking out younger men..In this fight Big George carried Jimmy to keep from hurting him after the second round he didn't know were he was....Just think Big George had just went the distance with a young Holyfield...This just goes to show how great he is just think if Big George was in his prime don't think Holyfield would had stood a chance..
HBO was dying for a big name after Tyson went to jail Foreman fit that bill even though he sometimes fought easy fights although Alex Stewart fight brought him back to earth
George said je wanted to ne down to 238 for his next fight but he never sniffed the 240s again, he was 258-260 for all his following fights except Moorer, he was 250.
Such a likeable guy. Big George Foreman!. But I wonder why a guy like Ellis ( a doorman type) suddenly is fighting one of the best heavyweight. George will eat 3 Just to land one of his. This is the different because of his power. Few fighters have such power.
I always loved HBO boxing, but watching these old broadcasts today, it's just sad. There is nothing anywhere with this level of quality, not even close. They dont even show the corners between rounds on PPV anymore, there's ads. And now we get Prime Video coming. Ugh.
Hey take a look at 37:11. Big George could have knocked him out with a powerful right hand punch on the side of his head, but he thought that it would be unfair because Jimmy was not looking at him.
very difficult for Richard Steele??! quit feeling sorry for the referee it is his JOB to decide when to stop the fight. if Steele is not up to the job and is gun shy he shoulda got the hell out of the reffing game.
Without Howie LongJimmy Ellis would never had gotten a fight with Foreman. Ellis was a scab bum as a professional football player and a bum as a boxer.
What a joke.. Ellis should’ve never been in there with an all time great like Foreman. He carried him all night. Could’ve put him out cold if he wanted. Lucky this was peaceful old George 😂
I still maintain that Foreman is the best heavyweight boxer of all time, even better than Ali. He eclipsed Ali when he came back and had a SECOND boxing career.
Hard to say which boxer is better overall. but the matchups go in Ali's favor, i think. Young Ali would beat old George. Too mobile, active and fast. Post layoff Ali ko'd young George. I think post layoff Ali would beat old George because ali was still very athletic and fit before his 3rd bout with frazier ruined him physically... but thats a very interesting one since old George would have the memory of fighting ali already and he would never fall for the same trick twice. Young Ali vs young George would be very interesting too. Young ali made more silly mistakes than he did when he was older, any version of Foreman didnt need to catch you more than once or twice. I lean towards young George in that one... but that being said young ali never had any serious issues with anyone beyond flash knockdowns. Either way, both awesome heavyweights.
@@someguy7842 Great summation. Styles make fights. Matchups matter yes. But Dempsey still gets picked over Tunney even though he lost twice, with Gene winning damn near every round, maybe 19 of 20!
I think he did great against George. I love George all the way. But those announcers wall Ellis a cream puff. Those two should get I. The ring with Ellis. Se who is the cream puff then. 🤪
Ali layed on the ropes and hoped he punched himself out. Which Foreman did. He knew he couldn't win any other way. That's a wussy. Not the greatest of all time.
ellis was no better at boxing then he was at football. those 16 fights that he did winwere fringe boxers not pro boxers east wins. ellis should have stayed out of boxing and found another job
Hold on Cory, Big George was TKO'd by Ali in Zaire to lose the HW title (mind you, Foreman beat himself that night by having nothing left then Ali threw those unplanted arm punches).
Ali could take a punch that would TKO nearly everyone else. This may be part of the reason why he ended up with his later motor control issues. If he'd have been TKO'd in some of those brutal fights, he wouldn't have continued to take those crushing blows 'til the end of the matches. Perhaps he could take a punch too well and then the accumulation eventually caught up with him. The same can be said of Jerry Quarry.
I really don't have a problem with Big George fighting a lot of young kids & old shopworn men on his way to a 2nd World's Title. Foreman had a "padded" record in his 1st career as a fighter. No, my "beef" is that after he won the Heavyweight Title, he wanted to continue to fight such poor boxers in order to maintain his winning record. From 1995 on, George fought such weak guys & they looked really good against him, that I wonder if Foreman seriously had anything left after he ko'd Moorer. (A "thirtysomething" Mike Tyson "ate" most of these late foreman opponents up when he fought them!)
George Foreman Well, Mike Tyson was no George Foreman. That's for sure! He was more a Jack Dempsey or Joe Frazier with such a "physical game" that he was bound to decline badly by his early thirties. As far as "padded records", well, that's how the money is made, Pal. Keeping a guy winning big or undefeated so that the promoters can cash in on his big fight or title fight. The greatest of many of the Heavyweight champs you mentioned is the fact that they WERE the "real deal" and beat everyone in front of them, not just the "bums". (The odds makers in Vegas or London wouldn't even cover the odds on bets concerning Foreman the first time he fought Joe Frazier that's how suspect George's pre-championship ring record was! Strange, but true!)
George Foreman Jack Dempsey didn't avoid black fighters. He tired again and again to get Black heavyweight contender Harry Wills into the ring for a big money Madison Square Garden title shot in the mid-20's, but both the powerful fight promoters and the general sporting public didn't wish to see another Jack Johnson "type" holding the title. So, nothing came of it despite the official signing of contracts and Dempsey was never allowed to fight in New York State again. And it's a shame they never met since Jack may have KO'd Wills easily because Harry was big, slow and mechanical--Perfect for Dempsey! When Jack Sharkey fought Wills, he completely beat him up over thirteen rounds and ended the "myth" of Harry Wills as an uncrowned champion. (Plus, one of Dempsey's best sparring partners was Big Bill Tate--a 6'6" black guy!) Irish-American heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan was the white racist who wouldn't even spar with a black man, Pal. Nearly everyone else--Corbitt to Baer--either fought black fighters on the way up and or didn't stick around long enough at the top level to fight a black man in a title bout...Except for Jack Johnson, but that opponent wasn't that good!
James Hash But my friend George Foreman was over 45 years old in a Young mans game.. i know hes fighting guys like ellis, savarese.. but he beat moorer, he beat alex stewart who is a dangerous slugger, i Think he beat briggs who rocked lewis and had a great fight with Holyfield one of the best ever.. so i Think when you are 40 plus you have to get matched in a fair way u know..
+josef karlberg Boxing doesn't handicap for age. Foreman knew he was limited and would likely get beaten by any of the top contenders and/or champs, so he matched himself very carefully, and used his gift for gab to attract attention, which, ultimately, resulted in him getting an undeserved title shot against Holyfield (and later against Moorer). Foreman came back for the money -- and he was masterful at positioning himself for the big-money shots. But he was never a true contender.
It didn't matter how old Foreman was. He knew he could beat Tyson. Didn't matter if Tyson was in or out of his prime. Tyson was always an infighter. And you could not stand in front of Foreman too beat him. Even after Ali stole his sole in Zaire. He still preformed well against other Infighters. Tommy Morrison didn't even chance to stand in front of the big man. That's why he was successful. They were made for Foreman. And as you can see, no matter how underleveled Jimmy Ellis was. He had a style simulator to Mike Tyson, so did Joe Frazier, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, and Ken Norton. You could not stand in front of Foreman to beat him