Emmanuel Steward has George Foreman as his top three HW ATG

And Manny's test tube baby...Wlad, isn't even mentioned.

 

Bit too high.

Lennox should be 3rd imo.

Foreman is somewhere between 4 and 7.

 

Well, that's big of him.

 

3-12 is all anyone’s opinion
Liston
Marciano
Lewis
Foreman
Holmes
Johnson
Holyfield
Wlad
Tyson
Frazier
Could all be reasonably argued for the spot.

 

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Holyfield
5. Foreman
6. Lewis (Foreman and Lewis trade places a lot on my list, I go back and forth)
7. Marciano
8. Frazier
9. Tyson
10. Wlad
11. Liston
12. Dempsey
13. Johnson
14. Vitali
15. Bowe
16. Charles
17. Tunney
18. Fury
19. Patterson
20. Norton
21) Walcott
22) Witherspoon
23) Fitzsimmons
24) Sullivan
25) Jeffries
26) Wilder
28) Weaver
29) Joshua

 

Fair enough, George is usually Top 5 elevated by his second career. If he didn't come back he might have to compete for Top 10.

 

I like that list. Pretty good actually. I don’t personally rate foreman over Holmes or Lewis and I also have Rocky Marciano in my top 5 which he doesn’t. But it’s still a reasonable list

 

George has one of those polarizing careers that people tend to either love or hate.

He won gold with very little amateur experience and I rarely see people give him credit for that. Demolishes Frazier who was seen as invincible before the fight and favored to win, then all of a sudden Frazier was tailor made for George and any big hard punching guy could have done the same thing. Norton was supposed to drag him into deep waters and school him, George KOs him early because Norton had the wrong style and can't take a hit. Ali beats George because apparently George was just an accident waiting to happen and any skilled boxer with good stamina could have outlasted him. George gets off the deck to beat Lyle in a brutal war, George just got lucky he had a good chin and Lyle wilted first. Young is said to have exposed George while glossing over the fact Young made quite a number of big punchers look bad.

Old George goes 12 with a prime champion Hoylfield young enough to be his son, people take that as an opportunity to criticize Holyfield for not finishing him rather than to give both guys credit. Old George is blasted for not beating a Morrison who completely changed styles and outboxed him. Old George KOs a prime undefeated Moorer to become the oldest champion in HW history, Moorer is called a fragile fraud who anyone else could have beaten.

It's amazing how if you try harder enough, all of a boxers best moments can be attributed to luck, while their worst moments were them being exposed.

 

I don't know what his criteria are, but lots of reasonable criteria could get you that list. Also, he knows more than I do about boxing. So.

 

Louis, Holmes, Ali & Tyson are my top 4

 

I love Foreman as a person and a character but find him absurdly over rated. He’s top top ten to me. Not even fifteen.