George Foreman Names The One Fighter That Could Win In Any Era

George Foreman has a unique insight into the heavyweight division across three decades.

Having become a world champion in ’73, the thudding puncher was bested by Muhammad Ali in The Rumble In The Jungle one year later and hung up the gloves in ’77.

Foreman made an unprecedented comeback ten years on and would win the title again by beating Michael Moorer in ’94 to become the oldest champion in the division’s history – a record he holds to this day. That was the second time of asking during that stint of his campaign having fallen short to Evander Holyfield in ’91.

Speaking to The Ring Magazine, ‘Big’ George praised Holyfield as having determination on a level with the great Ali.

“Evander was a good boxer. He’d wait for an opening and he’d throw combinations. Evander hit me – I don’t know – 25, 30 times and when he didn’t do anything to me, he threw an elbow to make it look as though I was staggering. It wasn’t even a shot, it was rude and crude, but it’s boxing, he knew that even if they didn’t do damage, they’d sway the judges.

The combinations, he threw them like a middleweight. A few times I hit him pretty good. He was great at covering up and stepping out of the way. I’d hit him with a hard shot, rock him a little bit and he’d always hit me back. I’d never seen a guy with that much determination, other than Muhammad Ali, who had more determination than I’d ever seen in my life. I think [Holyfield] could have hung with anybody in any era, the guy was that good.”

In a seperate interview with the same publication, Foreman expressed the same sentiment whilst discussing which era of the three he fought in was most ‘fearsome.’

“The men I faced in the seventies were more fearsome than the ones I faced in the eighties and the nineties, with the exception of Evander Holyfield. Evander could have competed in any era.”

Until very recently, Holyfield was the only man to have been undisputed at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, this year joined by Oleksandr Usyk.

An aggressive boxer-puncher with incredible determination, ‘The Real Deal’ had wins over the likes of Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Mike Tyson, Buster Douglas and of course Foreman in his campaign, which ended with 44 wins out of 57 including 11 title wins and 11 successful defences.