The exhibition craze currently gripping boxing is splitting followers of the sport. One high-profile ex-fighter who’s a huge supporter of the contests is George Foreman.
The former world heavyweight champion, who shared the ring with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, has been one of the key voices on boxing since his retirement in 1997. His opinion on Internet celebrities facing faded fighters differs from the verdict of boxing traditionalists.
With this new trend still in its infancy, it’s impossible to speculate its future and whether it can maintain a long-term interest, but for now, it has its audience, and Foreman is very impressed.
“The strangest thing is I’m starting to enjoy these exhibitions a lot more than the so-called competitive fights they put on because there’s no entertainment value to those,’’ Foreman told USA TODAY Sports. “These have entertainment value. Mayweather turned into the slugger, following the guy around. And (Paul) is as long as Wilt Chamberlain with that jab. It was exciting.’’
Foreman added, “It was an exciting night for me. And I didn’t expect that. Believe me. Some guys would say, ‘I’m turning this off now.’ I would not leave the television because at any second, I thought Mayweather might take him out, then the kid starts jumping around using his jab and dominating. He didn’t have the experience Mayweather had, but he dominated with his size.’’