Muhammad Ali Predicted ‘Annihilation’ In George Foreman vs Mike Tyson Fight: “He’d Knock Him Out”

Muhammad Ali once predicted the outcome of a fantasy fight between big hitters George Foreman and Mike Tyson.

Ali beat Foreman on the latter’s first run in the heavyweight ranks. While ‘Big George’ was in a decade-long retirement, ‘Iron’ Mike debuted and took the division by storm.

The late, great Foreman returned for a championship run in the nineties and was set to be lined up against Tyson, but the smaller man lost his championship to Buster Douglas in a shock upset and, with Foreman only looking for a belt, the fight was not to be.

Had it happened, Ali told The Seattle Times in 1990 that there was only one winner: the man he stopped in 1974’s Rumble in the Jungle.

“George Foreman will knock out Mike Tyson. He will annihilate him. Foreman will knock him out in four or five rounds.”

 

“Foreman is taller, has more reach and Tyson comes right in. Foreman will use his reach and wait for Tyson to come right in. Then, Foreman will tag him. The longer it goes, the more chances Foreman will have to tag him.”

“Back in the ’70s. we had fighters like Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, just like we had guys like Sonny Liston in the ’60s. Now the fighters aren’t as good. Foreman would knock out Douglas with one punch.”

Foreman’s raw power, granite chin, and methodical pressure against Tyson’s explosive speed, head movement, and ferocious combinations is a match-up forever up for debate. Mike has since said that it is one fight he regrets not making in order to settle once and for all who hit harder.