1973 George Foreman smokes EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!

[Gandalf]

Short, stocky, short armed heavyweights with a bobbing and weaving style are tailor made for Foreman. Just see his destruction of Joe Frazier. I can definitely imagine Tyson eating a few uppercuts from Foreman just like Frazier. And guess what? Tyson was vulnerable to the uppercut, see Tyson-Douglas where the right uppercut stunned Tyson and set up the knockout, and see the Tyson-Tucker fight in round 1 where Tyson was stunned with an uppercut, see Lewis-Tyson where he was hurt by the uppercut in round 1. So I say Foreman punches harder than any of those guys and if he times Tyson just like he timed Frazier with the uppercuts it's over. Tyson got wobbled and was seriously hurt by Bonecrusher Smith in the last 10 seconds of the fight, imagine if it was prime Foreman?

And Foreman in his prime weighed 215-230 depending on the foe, so Foreman would not be smaller than Tyson. Tyson would not be able to intimidate and bully Foreman, not to mentioned Tyson does have stamina problems, he even stated this in his 2009 documentary citing that he has a lung problem and it was a good thing many of his fights ended early.

We are constantly told that this style and size is made for Foreman and are always given Frazier as the model. However, Tyson and Frazier are totally different fighters. Tyson in his own way was like a HW Pacquiao, he was hard to hit, had devastating power and would come at you with either hand. Sure Tyson could sometimes be hit with the uppercut, woopy doo. Foreman could be hit with practically anything, his defence was as leaky as a 400 ear old ceiling. Tyson would be on him in a flash and would have landed 3 punches before Foreman realised that Tyson was now in close and mauling him. It would be extremely frustrating for Foreman. Tyson wouldn't just stand on the outside like Frazier allowing Foreman to swing at the moving target. He would use his movement, land, get inside, rinse and repeat. Foreman would be too slow and ponderous to do anything about it. Tyson's handspeed was that good.

I refuse to listen to examples of Tyson post prison as that was a different beast and the style had unfolded. In fact, it unfolded post Bruno really, but he was still a fine athletic being and the power stayed along with great instincts, but technically he wasn't the same after Rooney left. The prime Tyson took anyones punch, was faster than almost every other heavyweight, hit just as hard and was extremely difficult to pin down. He would have given Foreman fits.

Tyson downplays a lot of his achievements these days. He hates boxing and all of that. He messed up a lot of his life, but even if he says his stamina was suspect, the evidence suggests otherwise. Even in going the distance, he always won every round and outworked his opponent. Tyson/Bonecrusher Smith was his very own Pac/Mosley. Not inspiring, but took every round for the decision. Foreman rarely went the distance himself and Ali showed that Foreman's ring IQ and stamina was average.

Tyson takes him.

Do you know why Tyson is usually compared to Frazier? Well for one they are both short and stocky HWs with short reaches, secondly they both have a very similar style in the bobbing and weaving to get inside because of their lack of height and reach. And Tyson throughout this career was susceptible to the uppercuts as I have listed, yeah woopy doo, he only got stunned numerous times by other fighters and was on queer street when Buster Douglas landed and then was knocked out. Those are facts. Lastly, '73 Foreman just walked through punches that didn't faze him or hurt him or wobble him, it was only after the '74 Ali fight that he was mentally messed up and looked vulnerable. We're talking about a '73 Foreman here.

Another thing, Mosley never got Manny hurt, Bonecrusher Smith had him wobbled and Tyson looked to be in serious trouble before the round and fight ended. And another thing Tyson looked very ordinary in many fights even with Rooney in his corner. See Green fight, Bonecrusher Smith fight, Tucker fight, Tillis fight, etc. This whole Iron Mike was invincible under Rooney was completely false.

But their styles are not particularly similar. I will grant you that they both had head movement and were stocky, but Tyson was much faster, clearly hit harder, threw combinations better and had a significantly better defence. Just watch the fighters back to back. Frazier is in no way a mirror of prime Mike Tyson. You talk about Tyson being hurt by Douglas and yet only want to focus on a prime Foreman yourself. That's unfair. Tyson didn't train for that fight and had been losing his technique since kicking Rooney out. Prime Tyson, ie the Tyson of 1988 was a different beast too.

Tyson was exceptional up until Bruno and even then was better than everyone else. Sure, he might have gone the distance a couple of times, but how many rounds did he lose? Marquez hurt Manny, but that happens in boxing. Wippy doo. All fighters can be hurt, Tyson had a couple of moments, but was he ever in danger of losing fights? Was he bollocks.

Mike Tyson under D'Amato and Rooney was the best heavyweight in boxing history and that is all there is to it. He could evade most of your punches and would land several to your one. The only way to beat him is to stop him and that is why I favour him against Foreman. Unless Foreman knocks Tyson clean out then he will either lose a decision or get sparked himself whilst looking for the homerun.