I don't think Foreman would do any better than Wilder just did. He was a sloppy uneducated puncher in his first career and a slow old man in his second. Props for beating tiny Joe Frazier and glass chin Norton but he was embarrassing when they put him in with Ali and Young.
If he retired tomorrow he'd be ranked alongside guys like Bowe and Vitali all-time, generational number one ranking somewhere between 17 and 31 probably mid-twenties.
01 – Muhammad Ali 02 – Joe Louis 03 – Rocky Marciano 04 – Lennox Lewis 05 – Joe Frazier 06 – Larry Holmes 07 – Evander Holyfield 08 – Mike Tyson 09 – George Foreman 10 – Sonny Liston 11 – Jack Johnson 12 – Jim Jeffries 13 – Harry Wills 14 – Jack Dempsey 15 – Wladimir Klitschko 16 – Sam Langford 17 – Floyd Patterson 18 – Ezzard Charles 19 – James J Corbett 20 – Jersey Joe Walcott 21 – Peter Jackson 22 – Ken Norton 23 – Max Schmeling 24 – Vitali Klitschko 25 – Riddick Bowe 26 – Bob Fitzsimmons 27 – Gene Tunney 28 – Archie Moore 29 – Max Baer 30 – Joe Jennette There's a 30, does anyone think Fury would be 31?
He needs a few more good wins for me. Wladmir and Wilder are impressive, but not ATG quality yet. If he beats AJ and Usyk then I'd say top 15.
Trolololol. I mean his best wins are Chisora, old Wlad in which probably Fury was on peds (didn't give him rematch either) and Wilder. His ATG status at the moment is around the level of Sanders. He gotta fight decent people first. He has ATG talent, i will give him that. By the way, i like Fury so i am not posting this as a hater or anything, just being objective.
Head to head - a nightmare, just like Vitali. Other people in the Top 15 even have achieved more than Fury. Hell, they've made even more defences than Fury It's no good winning all the belts (at one time or another) you have to defend them as well.....
H2H - I'd put him in the top 10 yes. However his resume doesn't stack up yet to warrant placing ahead of some other ATG's in year's gone by. I can see his next 3 or 4 fights being Whyte, Usyk and AJ so beating all 3 of them would certainly prop him up.
He's not even Top 20 right now. 1) Tenure as Champion (Was he a dominant champ? His reign? Defenses? Was he ever undisputed?) 2) Quality of Opposition (Lineal champs beaten, Champions beaten, Top 10 Contenders beaten, Ranked fighters beaten) 3) Notable losses/Omissions (suffered upsets, ducking or general avoidance of challenges) 4) Ability as a Fighter (Head to Head Ability, p4p rankings) 5) Historical Significance (Self explanatory) I don't think any expert or historian can take a look at his career as is, use objective criteria like the one above and rank him inside the Top 20. He's an active fighter, his career is still ongoing and he has the opportunity to accomplish more before he calls it quits. We'll get a better sense and hopefully he'll rank pretty high, but until then let's not overrate him. His resume alone is way too thin to be compared to the greats.
1. Joe Louis 2. Muhammad Ali 3. Jack Johnson 4. Larry Holmes 5. Rocky Marciano 6. Mike Tyson 7. Lennox Lewis 8. George Foreman 9. Evander Holyfield 10. Joe Frazier 11. Wladimir Klitschko 12. Jack Dempsey 13. Sonny Liston 14. Jim Jeffries 15. Ezzard Charles 16. Harry Wills 17. Sam Langford 18. Floyd Patterson 19. Riddick Bowe 20. Vitaly Klitschko Based on Fury's career to date (Oct 2021) I can't rank him ahead of anybody in my Top 20. Just for reference these are his top 10 scalps: Wlad Klitschko Wilder 2X Chisora Pianeta Hammer Wallin Johnson Cunningham Schwarz Seferi Fury is an active fighter, with legacy fights on the horizon. Whatever he can do in terms unification and clearing out the division will improve his ranking as a fighter and eventually secure his legacy.
