which fighters were one win away from being the goat?

George Foreman vs Ali


Sonny Liston vs Ali

 

Whitaker beating Trinidad would've considerably raised Whitaker's already great standing in history.

 

I don't think greatest of all time is decided by one win. Hearns has a lot of wins over greats, but his two wins over non greats hurt him. But had he beaten Hagler and Leonard I am not sure that means greatest of all time. That is usually a popularity contest.

 

Pete McNeeley - Mike Tyson.

 

These fights probably wouldn't have resulted in the fighters being GOAT, but imagine how much higher they'd be ranked if they won.

Carlos Monzon-Jose Napoles
Mike Tyson-Larry Holmes
Evander Holyfield-Larry Holmes
Oscar De La Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez 2
Felix Trinidad-Pernell Whitaker
Joe Louis-Billy Conn (especially the first fight)
Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks

 

Liston over Ali to me isn't really a good example because Ali's greatness wasn't realized that early in his career. It would have only extended Liston's path of destruction and simply added another name but it would in no way shape or form catapult him to No. 1 on that win alone.

Foreman over Ali was the expected result in Kinshasa and while that would have further solidified Foreman's reign, Ali's stock would have dropped considerably after that fight and he would have been regarded as washed up. It would have been a very good win but not enough for number one. Ali went on to beat Frazier a third time, Norton a third time*, Lyle, Shavers, Young post Foreman. Those wins added significant depth to his already great resume.

Tyson over Holyfield in the rematch would have been pretty huge although the winning the Lewis fight may have given him more mileage.

Dempsey over Tunney would have been pretty huge if he won the rematch.

Louis over Marciano would have solidified his number 1 spot. (I have him at 1 anyway).

Jeffries over Johnson would have really catapult him (and exacerbated the racial implications).

 

I think the key here is, what would be the value of the win if it happened at the time as opposed to looking back at both careers.

goat15 has it on the money, every win you reverse changes the legacy of the fighter you take it from so the only wins that make sense are the wins over already accomplished fighters that could sustain the black mark on the resume well enough that their name on your win column matters.

Frazier beating Foreman doesn't help Frazier as much as some think; It would be a Duane Bobick type win with a slightly better chin.

Ali beating Holmes wouldn't be all that great either, it delegitimizes Holmes from the outset; Holmes would be 2nd tier champion before he's reached that ATG status. It would mean that Holmes never grabbed the symbolic torch from Ali and he'd spend his entire career being treated with even more resentment than he actually experienced during his actual reign. And even if he replicates his 7 year reign, people would say Ali beat a green Larry Holmes.

 

Fitzsimmons beating Johnson would get him pretty close to #1, if not #1.

 

Robinson-Armstrong has already been discussed. One I'm surprised I didn't see get mentioned is Greb-Walker. That had massive ATG P4P ramifications for both in light of what Harry had already done, and Mickey later did. This would have been especially true if either had managed to take the other out, and Greb reportedly came close in round 14.

 

Greb beating Tiger Flowers in his retirement fight or one more win vs Tunney?

 

Sorry I am kind of thinking out of the box on this one. I dont think he would have retired, and I dont think he would have lost in those ten years.

I do think, without Ali, Foreman would be generally known and accepted as the greatest in his prime. And probably the greatest ever