by James Slater:
It's still way too early to expect George Foreman III, AKA "Monk" Foreman to take a testing fight, due to how the late-to-the-game son of a heavyweight legend had absolutely no amateur career. And the 26-year-old sure wasn't tested in the slightest last night in Tacoma, as he dispatched a quite hapless 41-year-old named Yul Witherspoon.
Despite sharing his surname with the former two-time alphabelt heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon (no relation), Yul Witherspoon showed almost no fighting talent at all. Reportedly flinching from thrown punches immediately in the mismatch, the unknown who is now 1-3 was taken out, with barely a sweat from the huge Foreman, at just two-minutes and 39-seconds of the opening round. Now 5-0(5) and having been taken past the first round just once since beginning his pro career in June of last year, Foreman III looks sure to continue facing "soft touches" until his legendary father decides otherwise.
Always a great believer in quantity over quality - adopting this approach in the early days of his first career and in the early-to-mid days of his amazing comeback - Foreman Senior, who trains "Monk," seems to be taking this same approach with his son. And why not? It worked well for "Big" George, and the 1970's and 1990's heavyweight king had a most accomplished amateur career. Foreman III, on the other hand, had nothing but some gym sparring to help prepare him for the pro game. It makes sense to move the 6'5," approx 240-pound prospect slowly.
Due to his surname, Foreman III is going to receive a ton of publicity whoever and wherever he fights. Yet to face a fighter with anything like a decent record (just one of Monk's KO victims had a winning record), the genetically gifted fighter has met guys who were either old or who had zero KO's on their records. As such, and as much as the Foremans cannot be blamed for taking a huge safety net with them whenever Foreman III fights, it's almost impossible to know if the young heavyweight has any genuine talent.
Sure, Foreman III can punch, but the guys he's bowled over would have been flattened by any mediocre big man. As tough as it is to know whether or not the young Foreman has real talent, however, it's also tough not to hope he does have some. Foreman senior is rightfully hailed as a true great and his many millions of fans want to see his son go on to achieve even a fraction of what he did.
We can expect Foreman III to fight again soon - most likely taking a fight every month or two throughout the rest of the year - but we can't expect him to face anyone we've heard of. Possibly not for another two years or so. Until then, Foreman III will keep rolling over the guys his dad gets for him fight. And we'll keep on watching.
It's still way too early to expect George Foreman III, AKA "Monk" Foreman to take a testing fight, due to how the late-to-the-game son of a heavyweight legend had absolutely no amateur career. And the 26-year-old sure wasn't tested in the slightest last night in Tacoma, as he dispatched a quite hapless 41-year-old named Yul Witherspoon.
Despite sharing his surname with the former two-time alphabelt heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon (no relation), Yul Witherspoon showed almost no fighting talent at all. Reportedly flinching from thrown punches immediately in the mismatch, the unknown who is now 1-3 was taken out, with barely a sweat from the huge Foreman, at just two-minutes and 39-seconds of the opening round. Now 5-0(5) and having been taken past the first round just once since beginning his pro career in June of last year, Foreman III looks sure to continue facing "soft touches" until his legendary father decides otherwise.
Always a great believer in quantity over quality - adopting this approach in the early days of his first career and in the early-to-mid days of his amazing comeback - Foreman Senior, who trains "Monk," seems to be taking this same approach with his son. And why not? It worked well for "Big" George, and the 1970's and 1990's heavyweight king had a most accomplished amateur career. Foreman III, on the other hand, had nothing but some gym sparring to help prepare him for the pro game. It makes sense to move the 6'5," approx 240-pound prospect slowly.
Due to his surname, Foreman III is going to receive a ton of publicity whoever and wherever he fights. Yet to face a fighter with anything like a decent record (just one of Monk's KO victims had a winning record), the genetically gifted fighter has met guys who were either old or who had zero KO's on their records. As such, and as much as the Foremans cannot be blamed for taking a huge safety net with them whenever Foreman III fights, it's almost impossible to know if the young heavyweight has any genuine talent.
Sure, Foreman III can punch, but the guys he's bowled over would have been flattened by any mediocre big man. As tough as it is to know whether or not the young Foreman has real talent, however, it's also tough not to hope he does have some. Foreman senior is rightfully hailed as a true great and his many millions of fans want to see his son go on to achieve even a fraction of what he did.
We can expect Foreman III to fight again soon - most likely taking a fight every month or two throughout the rest of the year - but we can't expect him to face anyone we've heard of. Possibly not for another two years or so. Until then, Foreman III will keep rolling over the guys his dad gets for him fight. And we'll keep on watching.
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