George Foreman could relate to Deontay Wilder. Foreman was undefeated and the most fearsome puncher in boxing heading into his title defense against Muhammad Ali on Oct. 29, 1974, in Zaire. Nobody expected Ali to dethrone the fighter who hadn't lost in 40 fights, winning 37 of them by knockout. But Ali showed why he's "The Greatest" by employing the "Rope-A-Dope" style that wore Foreman out, which helped him gain the advantage to win by eighth-round KO to become the champion.
People have viewed Wilder in the same light as Foreman. He's a slugger who everyone saw as indestructible and could win any fight with what is thought of as the ultimate weapon in boxing today, his devastating right hand. But Wilder ran into Tyson Fury, who rose from the dead in the 12th round in their Dec. 2018 bout to earn a split draw. In their February rematch, Fury flipped the script and became the bully to score two knockdowns and win by seventh-round TKO to capture the WBC title.
Not too long after the fight, Foreman said he wanted to have a conversation with Wilder and give him some advice heading into their trilogy contest that had been scheduled for July 18. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the fight has been postponed until later this year. After talking to Wilder, Foreman came away convinced that Wilder would emerge victorious in a third fight with Fury.
"Not only beat him, he can do it easily," Foreman told TMZ Sports. "As a matter of fact, he could've won that boxing match. A few things people take for granted — trainers get overwhelmed with all of this publicity, and they just don't know how to take advantage of that day. That's what happened. Give him another chance! He'll show you!"
Foreman carried a different tune than he does now when they fought six weeks ago.
"I expected Fury to win the fight, but not by knockout, and not to get a knockdown early like that at all," Foreman admitted. "Unexpected. But the fight, I really thought he'd win it on points, but he said he was going for a knockout. Sometimes you gotta believe us guys when we start to boast."
When the 71-year-old looks at the heavyweight landscape, he thinks Fury right now is the best in a weight class that includes Wilder and Anthony Joshua. But Foreman gave Wilder a tidbit of advice in preparation of how should view the situation going into the trilogy.
"Right now, he's the best," Foreman said. "But I told Wilder, I had a conversation with him, I said, 'Now once a rematch is made, the title is vacant again.' You gotta look at it like that. You can't say, 'I want my title back,' so your title is there. Just grab it again."