How does Foreman rank without that R10 Moorer KO?

Low Top 10 instead of Mid Top 10

 

Interesting one to ponder. I personally don’t think you can justify him over someone like Tyson, Holmes, Wlad or Johnson. Maybe Moorer wasn’t the the strongest of lineal champions, but he was, at least lineal and at that stage I hold the lineal title as still having a fair bit of credibility. I’d probably put him outside of my top 10.

 

He's about 4th on my list without that win and the ones that folllwed he probably would reside at 6th.

 

I was more amazed by his going the distance with prime Holyfield than him knocking out Moorer.
Foreman's comeback was impressive before the Moorer win.
I'm not talking about the opposition he beat, but the fact that he could come back at all at his age after a 10 year lay-off and become some sort of contender at all.

 

Foreman wiped Frazier out in 2 rounds.
Bowe never did anything like that to Holyfield.

 

The reason he should be put over Bowe is that he beat the the 3rd and 4th best heavyweights of his generation in a total of 4 rounds. Okay Frazier wasn’t the same after FOTC and I’m not making a case that younger Foreman has a fantastic resume, in reality it’s very thin aside from them two wins, but no one has done that before or since.

 

Foreman beat Frazier twice too, and Norton once, so what's your point ?
Frazier was very durable.

 

https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Division-By-Division_-_The_Greatest_Fighters_of_All-Time

Foreman didn't make the top 10 in the Ring's comedy 1975 ratings, or the top 5 in the more credible 1994 version.

By 1998, they were ranking him no.4.

He was very difficult to rank prior to his comeback. He appeared the ultimate frontrunner, a force of nature offensively, but with poor stamina, a questionable chin and low ring IQ.

He obviously answered a lot of these concerns in his comeback, but I think we need to avoid creating a composite version of Foreman that combined the best of the 74 and 91 versions, when that fighter didn't ever exist in reality.

 

Okay, if you want to throw the 2nd Foreman-Frazier fight away, go ahead. I was just reminded you that it happened, it was a real fight, and Foreman won again.

Foreman's 1st win over Frazier is better than Bowe's win over Holyfield, in my opinion.
In a lot of people's opinions.

I don't follow what you're saying.

 

What Foreman did and the way he did it in the 70's makes him a top 10 Heavyweight. Even had he lost to Moorer that night, his comeback was hugely creditable.
The fact that he knocked out 26 year old Moorer so deep into the fight, 20 years to the night that he lost the Title and wearing the same trunks and with Angelo Dundee in the corner is a stand alone story. A fairy tale. It really is the greatest story in sport. Not just our sport but any sport and for that we should be grateful.

 

These are really interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of yet...