Bob Arum has promoted fights featuring Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes and Joe Frazier.
The 93-year-old Top Tank head honcho first promoted Ali’s heavyweight title defence against George Chuvalo in 1960 and has since been involved in more than 400 world championship bouts.
That includes Foreman’s incredible comeback to the top of the division when he defeated Michael Moorer in 1994 to become the oldest heavyweight world champion in history.
‘Big’ George sadly passed away last month at the age of 76, and Arum joined the masses in paying tribute to his services to the sport of boxing. Speaking to Sean Zittel, veteran promoter Arum recognised the man from Marshall, Texas as the biggest hitting heavyweight to ever grace the ring when asked how he would have fared with today’s fighters.
“I think quite well, because I don’t know any heavyweight around who had the ring savvy that he had and the punching power that he possessed. Of heavyweight fighters with punching power, the one that came close was Wilder, but Wilder didn’t have the defensive skills that George had and couldn’t take a punch the way George did.”
Holyfield, who fought many renowned heavyweights including Tyson and Lennox Lewis, stated that Foreman hit him the hardest, even in his 40s.
Others described his punches as feeling like being hit by a “Mack truck.” While his shots weren’t the fastest or most technically refined, the sheer mass and leverage he put behind them generated devastating impact, capable of ending fights with a single blow.
Foreman’s pro campaign touched four decades, ending in 1978 for ten years before his incredible comeback. Throughout it all, he scored 68 knockouts from his 76 wins.
