Is George Foreman the most overrated fighter in history?

I rarely see people having him top 5. I don't even have him in my top 5 and he's one of my favorite HW boxers (I think he made #9 on my last top 10 list). Even some of the most die hard Foreman fans rarely give him top 5 status so I have no idea why you went on this crusade. Which posters do you even see doing this?

 

George Is not over rated. His wins r listed. What’s impressive is winning back the linear 20 years after losing it…no fighter will ever replicate that nor has any come close. His fight with Holyfield alone proved his greatness and the greatness of his generation. Look at a fighters top five wins to get the picture of whom they were. Most only have two good wins when u get to four plus ur not over rated. Fighters like Fury or Wilder are far more overrated…more of a byproduct of their own times as they avoid each other like the plague.

 

I have him borderline top 5…usually he ranges in that 5-6 range for me.

 

If I made a definite list, Big George would probably be around #10 I guess? I suck at lists lol.

I think the Moorer win gets overrated, while the Norton win gets underrated.

 

I have a feeling that if you were able to create a time-machine all-time heavyweight tournament and bring them all together (and give them knowledge of guys from other eras for familiarity) and then said, ‘OK, whoever wants George Foreman first line up on the left’ that you wouldn’t find any takers.

(I’m not saying no one would be willing, but I don’t think anyone would volunteer to face him first if they had a choice about it.)

He’s a hard one to rate because he literally had two careers, and his second act was like no other in history.

 

He gets overrated by some but name me a famous fighter who doesn't. He certainly isn't the most overrated fighter in history though he's up there, especially with fans that you could call more casual.

 

Heh, that's a very good point. Nobody would really be in a hurry to sign up to face George in the first round of a round robin HW tournament. That's very telling. He was neither the most skilled, nor did he have the best resume, but the guy could punch and you were probably going to end up with some serious bruises and a headache win lose or draw!

 

As always, you make some salient and valid points, with the possible exception of Louis, I don't see any HW until Liston having a realistic chance of beating him, Ali, Holmes, and Lewis are live, Tyson I feel might be too small to trouble George, and despite being an all round quicker fighter than Frazier, I still feel he would get manhandled and stopped by the early 70s Foreman, as for the " is he, isn't he " I am not sure, some will agree, others will not, personally I don't think he is, I do think he was a formidable and intimidating opponent for most of his predecessors, with the obvious exception of the Greatest.
stay safe guys.

 

I honestly think Holmes and 60s Ali wouldn't have had much trouble with prime George. Both of them were fine with going into deeper waters, and George absolutely was NOT. There's also the intimidation factor, George's glower would have no effect on either.

 

There's nothing Overrated About 76-5 w/68 knockouts (2 World Titles) , Olympic Fame won first 40 bouts 37 by knockout and bounced undefeated Champ 'smokin' JOE FRAZIER LIKE A BASKETBALL! He was never even knocked down on his comeback career despite fighting such great figher's & heavy hitters as Holyfield, Moorer, Morrison, and Cooney. He was reputed to not fighting anybody before his title but defeated Third Ranked Granite George Chuvalo (Who had only been stopped by Frazier) Gregorio Peralta (TWICE) and

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ranked Boone Kirkman! -He's at least top 5 alltime HW in my book.

THE EPIC RON LYLE BRAWL WILL TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GEORGE'S POWER & HEART-GEORGE WAS/IS ONE OF A KIND

 

Thanks Mike. You always make good points too.

 

I actually have Foreman at #5 (with Lewis #4, Holmes #3, Louis #2 and Ali #1). But I'm not precious about ratings, at all.
There are plenty of good arguments, I'm sure, for why other Greats should be positioned above Foreman.

Starting with the obvious negatives - Foreman has 5 losses in 81 bouts, including one stoppage loss.

However, three of these losses occurred when he was in his 40s and all but one of the men who defeated him were ranked in the Top-10 (and three of those were Top-3).

The one stoppage loss came at the hands of perhaps the greatest Heavyweight of All-Time.

The one loss to a then unproven challenger was in his very last fight, to Briggs, when Foreman was aged 48.

Given the quality of his conquerors, in the main, as well as the timing of the majority of these defeats, I would argue that they are comparatively less impactful than the losses suffered by other greats and, in turn, not too damaging to his overall rating.


On the flip-side to Foreman's low points, are his wins against Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, Michael Moorer.
All of these guys could be considered in their prime, at the time Foreman faced them and, when considered in combination with the manner of victory and the circumstances under which these wins occurred (particularly Moorer, at age 45), they seem more significant to me than the feats credited to other much touted ATGs.


Frazier (#6) sits one spot below Foreman in my list and is currently, for mine, perhaps the only guy who has a case for being swapped out with Big George. But, as I alluded to at the top of this post, I don't take personal ratings too seriously. To my mind, listed ratings are useful centerpieces for discussion - and no more than a mechanism, through which reasoned opinions can be conveyed.

 

No

 

Same lol And I'm not even that big a fan of his (I'm a Liston guy). Either him or Marciano is my #3 depending on the day.

 

1. Their's no man who lived who "wouldn't have had much trouble with prime George".

2. Holmes has had "much trouble" with much lesser men than Foreman. I'm a Holmes fan and he's my sixth favorite boxer (after Liston, Frazier, Patterson, Holyfield, and Ali respectively) but truth be told if he were matched up against Foreman, my money would not be going on him.