I talk about having proper fighting technique a lot. Technique can overcome so many obstacles, guys who are faster and stronger than you can crumble if you have good technique.
But… and there is a but, now and again comes a freak of nature breaks all the rules.
Was Tyson one of these “rule breakers”? Nope. In his early days he had great technique, punching from his legs, twisting his hips and great head movement so we was not an easy target.
Now George Foreman he was one huge freak of nature. Zero defensive skills, terrible head movement and massive looping punches. But he was a complete and utter wrecking machine in his youth.
Everyone thought he was unbeatable. Even truly great fighters like Ken Norton and Joe Frazier where knocked down several times and could not get passed the 3rd round.
George achieved all this with two weapons, intimidation and awesome punching power. And it worked until he came up against The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
As with most bullies, and that’s what Foreman and Tyson were, once they are beaten they are never the same fighter. Once other fighters realise they are human after all, the fear factor has gone. And the bully gets beaten again. This happened to Foreman and Tyson, they were never the same fighter again.
So I guess the point is you should never fear anyone except yourself. You can defeat yourself before you take on your opponent, but you are in control of this. Every guy you step in front of is beatable, no matter how big, strong or ugly they are. But you need to have the right mental attitude and the right skills.
But my main reason for writing this post is so I can show one of the most amazing fights ever.
I’m not saying it’s a good fight, quite the opposite… it stinks!
But what I love is that we have an old guy, big George Foreman, fighting a skilled, hard hitting, younger guy in Michael Moorer. And remember Foreman had only recently come back to the fight game after a 10 year plus absence. People were laughing at him!
But here he was fighting for the World Heavyweight title 20 years after he lost to Ali!
And he loses every second of every round until he knocks Moorer out. Foreman’s famous power digging him out of a hole and winning him the World title again. Every bit as romantic as Ali beating Foreman in Zaire 20 years before.
When you watch Foreman as an old guy you realise he is actually a much better technical fighter than he was as young man. Although he still threw his looping shots he he did it less often. He improved his jab and his defense… because he had to. He could no longer simply walk in and smash through guys with raw power.
If young George had fought like old George I wonder what he could have achieved?
So guys even if you have awesome power you still need to learn how to fight with proper technique. It will improve your power, speed and you will get hit a hell of a lot less.
Enjoy Big George’s great comeback.
