Ali's retirement Vs. Tyson's retirement Vs. Fury's retirement Vs. Foreman's retirement

It is clear to me that Tyson was in prison and Ali was in exile.
But the multi-year break in the career of a professional boxer certainly leaves consequences, regardless of the reason for the break.
It seems to me that Fury paid the least price.
In the case of Foreman, it was as if someone else had returned, with the fact that no one but Foreman would have returned after a ten-year break.

 

Hello. Personally, I believe Ali's forced retirement from the ring in 1967 was the worst from a historical perspective. First, he was entering his prime, and as boxing fans, we never had the privilege of seeing him in his prime. Second, there's a 99% chance Jimmy Ellis or Joe Frazier would never have become world champions, as Prime Ali would have defended his title against them.

 

Foreman had the most amazing ( if not successful) comeback, that's never gonna be replicated.

 

Ali’s comeback is the gold standard. He returned from exile, fought a murderer’s row of top contenders, beat multiple all‑time greats, and did it while past his physical peak. He reinvented his style, avenged losses, and beat fighters who were stylistic nightmares for him. He stopped a prime Foreman — a man who had just demolished the fighter many considered the greatest heavyweight ever at the time — and then beat that same fighter again to avenge a loss. Ali faced more elite opponents, more varied styles, and more dangerous matchups than anyone else on this list, and he won. His comeback résumé is unmatched.

Foreman is #2, and he deserves that spot clearly. His layoff was the longest and most physically damaging of the four. He came back after ten years completely removed from the sport, at 38 years old, older than Fury is right now. He didn’t just make adjustments — he had to completely reinvent himself as a different fighter with a different style, different pacing, and different mentality. And despite that, he fought prime Holyfield at 42 and gave him hell, fought and knocked out a 26‑year‑old Moorer to regain the title at 45, and fought Briggs at 48 for a shot at Lennox Lewis. Fury and Joshua couldn’t even get in the ring together despite being the top two guys of their era. Foreman fought prime champions while being decades past his own prime. That’s a comeback.

Fury is #3. His return was impressive, and he looked as good as ever. He beat Wilder three times and gave Usyk two very competitive fights. His style ages well, and he didn’t lose much physically. But his toughest opponents — Wilder and Usyk — are the same age as him. He didn’t have to fight a younger generation of elite heavyweights while he was past his prime. His layoff had the least impact on his abilities, but his actual accomplishments after returning don’t compare to Ali or Foreman.

Tyson is #4. He may have been the most affected mentally and emotionally, but in terms of boxing accomplishments, his comeback is the least impressive. He never reinvented himself, never beat a top‑tier heavyweight after prison, never regained the real championship, and lost badly to Holyfield twice. He simply didn’t return to elite form.

 

Larry Holmes could be added here as well. His comeback was pretty impressive, he lost most of his big fights but he was pretty competative in them. He did have several wins and beat Mercer.

 

Foreman lost most of his biggest fights too. Beating Moorer just made his comeback way better.

 

It is frightening to think we likely never saw how good Ali might have been...

 

I have information that Ali has a score of 11:0 in rematches, but I don't know everything off the top of my head.
2:0 Frazier
2:0 Norton
1:0 Liston
1:0 Leon Spinks
1:0 Floyd Patterson...

 

If this were between Ali and Fury, then I'd say Fury paid a heavier toll physically, but benefited from a much shallower division on his return. This and the fact Fury had natural advantages he could use to regain a foothold.

Ali had to work for it and demonstrated par excellence in making his way back to the top.


Foreman is an incredible outlier. Not only was he quite obviously diminished physically, but he was also stepping into one of the strongest eras in history.

 

I wouldn't say Ali is 99% favorite against Frazier at all.

I think he probably beats him but Frazier's style is troublesome for Ali at any stage.

 

It is true that Frazier's style was uncomfortable for Ali, but I still think that in 1968-1970, when this fight would most likely have taken place, he would have beaten him even more confidently than in 1974-1975. And he probably never would have lost a title defense against Norton either. But of course, that's just my opinion.

 

Both Frazier an Norton an Holmes as well would have done well against Ali at any time.

 

Or maybe he had already reach his peak before his exile but either way it’s all assumptions

 

Whatever arguments one makes against Foreman, he was a lineal champion in the golden and silver HW eras; a fact.

 

That's true, though I still consider him a bit overrated. Don't get me wrong, his punching power and punch resistance are absolutely off the charts, but if he'd faced more opponents in his career, like Holmes, Lewis, Bowe, or even Mike Tyson, and if the judges had scored his fights with Stewart or Schultz more fairly, his legacy would have been a bit less impressive. Still a legend.


Edit: I don't know why, but I'm not receiving email notifications about replies, especially those addressed to me. I have everything marked.