FILE - George Foreman. Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters FILE - George Foreman. Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
CAPE TOWN – According to George Foreman, Muhammad Ali wasn’t so sure he would have been able to fight against a hard hitter such as Mike Tyson.
Ali and Tyson are widely regarded as the greatest boxers the world has ever seen, and since they never stepped into the right together, there has always been the debate on who would win a boxing fight between them.
According to Anthony Joshua, the biggest boxer today, Tyson’s power would have been too much for Ali, while Tyson himself felt he wouldn’t have been able to go toe-to-toe with Ali, who died in 2016.
But, in the book Muhammad Ali: The Life of a Legend, Foreman revealed Ali once told him he was scared of the prospect of facing Tyson in his prime.
“Muhammad Ali told me himself. I said to him, ‘Do you think Tyson could beat anybody? He said, ‘Man, Tyson hits so hard.’
“He felt Tyson hit harder than anyone he’d faced. He told me once that he didn’t have the confidence he could have beaten Mike Tyson.”
Forman has also backed Tyson’s comeback bid, saying the former undisputed word heavyweight champion could even become a top contender.
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“I was so happy [seeing Tyson’s video on Instagram]. He looked like he had turned the clock back at least 20 years.
“He was looking fir and those punches were coming sharp. If he’s able to go into the woods and dedicate himself to that for about 10 months, he could come back and really be a top contender.