Answers for Moorer Should Come Tonight : Boxing: Performance against Foreman, 45, will say a lot about the heavyweight champion.

The questions bare for Michael Moorer, because George Foreman answered all of his, for better or worse, long ago.

Is Moorer strong enough, talented enough and, most important, brave enough to beat down the larger, older and far more savvy 45-year-old once and faded heavyweight champion?

Was Moorer’s heavyweight title-winning victory over Evander Holyfield last April a sign of a fighter growing toward greatness or of a tightly wound technician lucking into a bout with a worn-down champion who was confused by Moorer’s left-handed style?

At stake tonight in the MGM Grand Garden are Moorer’s International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Assn. titles, Foreman’s shot at history, and, maybe most of all, Moorer’s none-too-certain hold on his emotions.

Teddy Atlas, Moorer’s trainer, has said he knows exactly what Foreman’s tactics will be. In order to beat Moorer (35-0, 30 knockouts), Atlas says, Foreman (72-4, 67 KOs) must overwhelm the champion early, when Moorer’s nerves are jangling and Foreman’s endurance is not under siege.

The only way Moorer can lose, Atlas says, is if he is tricked into giving up, just as Muhammad Ali tricked Foreman out of the title 20 years ago in Zaire with a rope-a-dope plan that succeeded brilliantly.

“We don’t want Foreman to have a psychological edge going into the fight,” Atlas said. “I told him Foreman was using that like a younger fighter uses a jab.

“(Foreman) feels he has a trump card. He realizes he quit in Zaire against Ali, and that he will not let it happen again. That’s what he’s saying. But I expected that. George thinks he’s going to do what Ali did. Instead of rope-a-dope, he’s going to walk forward and try to take Michael’s will.

“He’s trying to con Michael into not believing in himself, that he can beat Michael by walking forward, that he’s an immovable object and try to break him down mentally. But Michael’s ready to deal with it.”

The 222-pound Moorer sparred against a virtual NFL offensive line of partners during his nine-week camp to prepare him for Foreman’s 250 pounds of power and leverage.

Foreman, the oldest man ever to challenge for the heavyweight title, appears in better shape than at any time since his 1991 title bout against Holyfield, when he gave the then-champion 12 reasonably hard rounds.

And he says that people who think his only chance is a quick and devastating knockout are oversimplifying his style.

“There are all kinds of ways I can whup Michael Moorer,” Foreman said. “If Michael Moorer jabs and I jab, I’m going to beat him to the jab. I can move. I can box. You can’t live in this world long without being able to box.

“The only thing Michael Moorer can do to me is what I let him do. He cannot say the same things considering George Foreman. If the bell rings and I charge him, he can’t stop me. If I start swinging a lot of punches at him, he cannot do anything about it. He’s got to wait until I stop. Not with me. If he starts swinging a lot of punches at me, all I’ve got to do is swing back, and he’ll stop.

“The only thing he’s got, everybody’s saying he’s young. But that’s not enough in my mind.”

Foreman, who has been inactive since he lost in June of last year to Tommy Morrison, points to Holyfield’s early knockdown of Moorer as evidence that Moorer is ready to go down for good.

“They say Evander hit me with 50 unanswered shots at one point. But then what happened? He held me,” Foreman said. “He hit Michael Moorer with one shot, what happened? He went down.”

Moorer and Atlas have been working on staying at medium distance from Foreman--not running away, but not close enough where Foreman can bully him--and peppering Foreman with quick shots to the body and head.

In a 1992 victory over Alex Stewart, Foreman’s face swelled up badly after absorbing several hard shots, and the Moorer camp thinks Moorer’s hard right jab and counterpunching could achieve that again.

“George wants me to sit there and slug with him,” Moorer said. “I’d be a fool. He’s a lot bigger man. He can probably punch a lot harder than I can.”

The key, Atlas says finally, is the rhythm of the fight. Moorer, 26, is not known as a quick starter, but if he keeps throwing crisp punches, Foreman might not have the endurance to stay with him in the later rounds.

“(Foreman) can’t match him physically,” Atlas said. “He needs to grab for things that are on the outskirts. He’s going to use his experience to try to get Michael to fight at a slow pace when he wants him to and then pick his spots, to have runs at Michael, and keep it slow in the meantime so he’ll be around for those runs.

“I want Michael to fight a disciplined fight. But at the same time, I’ve told him that we have a car that’s a very old model car in Foreman. And those cars look nice when they’re sitting in the driveway.

“But you don’t see them going down the highways 60 m.p.h. And I want to make this car go 60.”

Tale of the Tape

The tale of the tape for the IBF and WBA heavyweight title fight between Michael Moorer and George Foreman, tonight at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas:

Moorer Foreman Age 26 45 Weight 222 250 Height 6-2 6-4 Reach 78 79 Chest (normal) 42 1/2 47 Chest (expanded) 44 48 Biceps 17 17 Forearm 14 14 3/4 Waist 34 39 1/2 Thigh 26 1/2 28 1/2 Calf 17 20 Neck 20 20 Wrist 8 12 Fist 12 13 1/2 Ankle 13 13