Mike Tyson and George Foreman are two icons of the heavyweight division in boxing. However, the pair have never shared the ring.
Despite the timelines of their career overlapping with one another, Tyson and Foreman were never to step into the ring with one another.
When Foreman made his return to boxing in 1987, Tyson had won his first world title just months beforehand.
Although there were plenty of opportunities to match the pair, fans will forever have to speculate what would have happened had the two met.
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Larry Holmes predicts theoretical Mike Tyson vs George Foreman bout
Former world champion Larry Holmes has weighed in on who would have been the victor if Tyson and Foreman met in the ring in an interview with Sky Sports.
Holmes was able to somewhat draw on experience when making his prediction, having shared the ring with Tyson in 1988. ‘Iron Mike’ would be the victor of that fight. However, Holmes feels the result would have been different if he faced Tyson earlier in his career.
Despite losing via knockout, Holmes picked against his former opponent when predicting Tyson vs Foreman.
Feeling that Foreman possesses too much power, Holmes does not give Tyson much of a chance.
“George Foreman. Two seconds. He hit too hard. Anybody come at George Foreman… You gotta box George like Ali did, like I would do. You can’t stay there with George Foreman and take no punches. George will take your head off. Bang, bang, wap, wap. It’ll be like the kitchen sink he hits you with … He would hurt you, ruin you. Big guy, but he had no speed.”
Why didn’t Mike Tyson fight George Foreman?
Even though both Tyson and Foreman were fighting for and winning world titles in the 90s, the two were never scheduled to fight.
When Foreman made his return to boxing in 1987, he had clear ambitions of becoming a world champion.
Winning 24 fights in a row on his return to the sport, Foreman had propelled himself back into title contention in the early 90s.
However, in the opening quarter of the 90s, Tyson lost his belt in a shock defeat to Buster Douglas. Despite Tyson’s incredible first-round knockout over Carl Williams months beforehand, a knockout loss to Douglas would remove his champion status.
Had the upset not happened, Foreman may have gotten his title opportunity versus Tyson. Instead, he faced Evander Holyfield in 1991, losing on points. However, Foreman would make history at 45 years of age in 1994, defeating Tommy Morrison.