By Eric Thomas: Boxing great big George Foreman (76-5, 68 KO’s) has his doubts about IBF/WBA/.WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KO’s) leaving much of a legacy when he retires from the sport someday because of the way that Wladimir fights so defensively.

Foreman, 62, thinks that Wladimir has to fight defensively because of his weak chin. Foreman believes that Wladimir would have had problems if he had fought guys in his era like Joe Frazier and Sonny Liston, but he does believe that Wladimir would find success because of his defensive style of fighting.

In an interview at the examiner.com, Foreman said “It doesn’t matter if his [Wladimir] opponent is big or small, he will never take any chances. He’ll probably go down as one of the most reluctant heavyweight champions ever….So he’s not going to go down as the bravest guy. The reason why he’s reluctant is because he has a weak chin. He’s always trying to protect that chin, but he’s not going to leave much of a legacy.”

Foreman goes on to say that he sees guys from his era getting past Klitschko’s jabs to work on him at close range. Foreman might not have been impressed with Wladimir’s recent fight against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, who came into the fight weighing 30 pounds less than Wladimir. A prime Foreman would have went right at Haye and tried to take him out in the first two rounds.

It’s hard to imagine Haye lasting long against a young Foreman, even through both of them would be around the same height and weight. Foreman was just so strong and powerful. He’d have caught up with Haye and made things miserable for him. The same goes for Wladimir. He would have problems against the 1973 version of Foreman that destroyed a prime Joe Frazier in two rounds. Foreman was big and was able to cut off the ring well. Wladimir wouldn’t been able to hold Foreman off for long throwing only jabs.