Where do you rank Bob Foster at light-heavyweight?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by dmt, Dec 23, 2020.


  1. elmaldito

    elmaldito Skillz Full Member

    22,521
    6,264
    Jun 11, 2009
  2. Dance84

    Dance84 Unicorn and seastar land Full Member

    8,066
    5,453
    Oct 11, 2017
    He's #1 easily!! Foster would easily knockout Charles in 3








































    Im just kidding George
     
  3. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

    6,484
    9,516
    Oct 22, 2015
    Foster is a rare enigma in boxing .
    He destroyed fighters he was supposed
    to destroy, yet because of it, some see
    them all as inferior and he doesn't get
    the credit deserved .
    Is his competition that much worse
    than what Louis , Holmes , or Monzon faced?
    While I can understand why he shouldn't
    be number one to three, but not top five?
    Not in the top ten?
    I disagree.
    In some cases some great fighters
    unfortunately come along when a
    ultimate challenge or multiple good
    fighters are around . Call it fate.
    But what we CAN judge is how they
    handled the competition that WAS
    available to them.
    Foster damn near killed every LT.
    heavyweight he faced in his prime.
    He beat his competition more
    convincingly than Holmes or
    Monzon.
    His level of destruction was Joe Louis
    like, but without the knock downs at
    Lt.heavyweight.
    Personally , I rank him #4 behind
    Spinks,Moore and Charles because
    they did face better competition.
    Head to Head? # 1, his combination
    of skills, physical advantages,
    and extreme power would be
    extremely dangerous if not overwhelming
    to any Lt.heavy in history.
     
  4. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    15,800
    11,427
    Aug 22, 2004
    I disagree with the notion that one can just shrug away the deficiencies in his competition and merely say "Well he fought who was out there, so we have to give him full credit." Sucks for him I guess but the reality is his competition was very sorely lacking, and logic tells us that has to have some kind of tangible effect on how he's rated. It has to matter. It seems to for everyone else.

    Unless there are qualities to Andy Kendall I'm simply missing.

    And yes, Monzon's and Holmes' competition was decidedly better. So was Louis', to a smaller degree.
     
  5. George Crowcroft

    George Crowcroft He Who Saw The Deep Full Member

    27,133
    44,921
    Mar 3, 2019
    Listen sunshine.... when I get my hands on yo-

    :oops:
     
    Dance84 likes this.
  6. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

    113,058
    48,203
    Mar 21, 2007
  7. George Crowcroft

    George Crowcroft He Who Saw The Deep Full Member

    27,133
    44,921
    Mar 3, 2019
    This is about right, no matter how you slice the rest of the list.
     
  8. Jester

    Jester Active Member Full Member

    885
    450
    Jul 27, 2014
    While I agree that Foster doesn't have many hugely impressive names on his resume and his historical rating should take a hit for that, some of the replies in this thread have been unnecessarily harsh. Comparing him to Deontay Wilder and saying that he 'basically did nothing" are huge, huge disservices to his legacy.

    I agree with the general notion that he's in the 7-10 range.
     
    dmt, Flash24 and Dance84 like this.
  9. George Crowcroft

    George Crowcroft He Who Saw The Deep Full Member

    27,133
    44,921
    Mar 3, 2019
    I didn't do that :nonono

    I simply said that for a talented fighter, longevity isn't the be all and end all. Wilder being my example. It shouldn't be a substitute for beating other great fighters.
     
  10. ChrisJS

    ChrisJS Boxing Addict Full Member

    3,240
    7,120
    Sep 11, 2018
    A huge difference between him and Wilder (bedsides the obvious) is that Foster was consistently beating top ranked opponents and also was lineal and undisputed champion whereas Wilder held a trinket, didn’t fight more than one or two ranked guys and lost the first time he fought someone good.

    I think your Pascual Perez comparison was better since both beat multiple ranked guys, dethroned excellent champions and reigned as the true undisputed champion for years.
     
  11. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

    6,484
    9,516
    Oct 22, 2015
    I didn't shrug away the competition question. Its the reason I had him 4th. I think I wrote that. Maybe theirs some qualities in Tonna or S.Frank, Rodriguez , or Galento I missed ( They weren't that much better than Kendall, if at all) this is a ugly road to go down. Anyone can go down any fighters resume pop up a few obscure names as some bench mark of their ability to prove a point.
    Obviously I'm sure you know Kendall wasn't the best Foster fought. Or at least I hope you do.
    I understand the competition question, I'm the biggest proponent of who a fighter considered an ATG fought and just as important, when they fought them.
    But I also trust my eyes. Foster had everthing needed to be the G.O.A.T at Lt. Heavyweight.
    Foster did things to opponents that we rarely see, and he did it consistently.
    I've watched many of Fosters fight in their entirety. I'm not a highlight reel warrior.
    I take the time to study a fighter in depth. He did everthing one wants to see in a fighter considered atg.
    I'm old enough to have seen many of Spinks, Saad Muhammad's, Mustafa Muhammad, and Qawi fights live as they happened.
    I've watched many of Moore's and Charles fights. I wouldn't bet a dime with any of them over Foster.
    But yes I agree with you, the competition factor is a major issue with him. I don't discount that fact.
     
    salsanchezfan and Bujia like this.
  12. Bujia

    Bujia Well-Known Member Full Member

    1,564
    2,392
    Jul 2, 2020
    There better be some die hard Pascual Perez haters among you
     
  13. George Crowcroft

    George Crowcroft He Who Saw The Deep Full Member

    27,133
    44,921
    Mar 3, 2019
    PICK ME PICK ME
     
    Bujia likes this.
  14. The Morlocks

    The Morlocks Boxing Junkie Full Member

    8,717
    8,944
    Nov 21, 2009
    This content is protected
     
    louis54 likes this.
  15. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    15,800
    11,427
    Aug 22, 2004
    Fair enough!
     
    Flash24 likes this.