Where do you rank George Foreman?

I have him at 6

 

He's either fifth, sixth or seventh. Depends on the day and how I feel about Holyfield and Wlad.

 

No-one likes to speak ill of the dead. This thread seems kind of bad-faith to me, I don't think anyone really wants to criticise a man who has only just passed.

 

I don't think it's aimed as a dig. For most people he is rated very high but I get your point.

 

I get why the thread was made and understand that it isn't coming from a bad place, it just seems a bit... weird.

 

Maybe we should be more sensitive to these things but it was always going to be asked by someone soon after he died.

 

Gun to the head, offhand, 5

 

He’s hard to rank because he had two careers in which he ascended to the very top of the heavyweight mountain.

There’s no one else quite like that. Sort of how I have Henry Armstrong as my top fighter ever because his achievement of being champion in three of the existing eight divisions at once (whilst fighting to a draw for a middleweight belt that would have given him at least a share of supremacy in HALF of the divisions) is the greatest thing any boxer has ever done.

George is singular like Henry was, in his own way.

I’d have him hovering around 5-6, I guess, but he did something none of the others were able to do in defying time and age.

You could literally put him in the Hall of Fame for his first career, also for being the oldest to ever become lineal heavyweight champ for his second career … and arguably even find a spot for him in a Hall of Fame for amateur/Olympic achievement.

 

He’s my number 3 both ATG and H2H.

 

Top 5 for sure.
He was a solid skilled boxer-puncher with not only heavy punching power but also perhaps the best chin of all time.
Would have been a difficult task for any Champion in any era.

 

The best response ever!! I love it

 

Well I personally think he’s around 8-13 in my ratings. I base my ratings however on, strong title runs against prime opposition. Guys like Holmes, Wlad, go above George in my rankings.
However Big George does have some spectacular feats and if that’s your thing I can see you placing him as high up as 3 on your list. I mean he won the lineal version of the heavyweight title 20 years apart. That will never happen again, and he did it after a 10 year layoff. So if that’s your motivation for a high ranking it can be justified.
He also crushed undefeated Joe Frazier in one of the most eye opening title exchanges ever.
However if you go through his resume you will see it is heavily padded. A lot of his wins and knockouts are over substandard opposition. He also never cleaned out the division in his prime and especially in his comeback form. So like I said based on what the assessor values you can really move George around.

 

Funny, I'm very much sure there's a few around here who are delighted to do so concerning Foreman.

I'd personally rank him nowhere worse than in the top ten. As was mentioned, his resume is truly unique, with extraordinary accomplishments across multiple decades. Olympic Gold Medalist, a feared juggernaut of a force in his first career with that blistering win over Frazier, an inspiration on his comeback run(albeit, one who carefully picked his route). He was a significant ambassador for boxing with his commercial ventures outside the sport, making him all the more historically relevant in my viewpoint, as I also consider cultural impact as part as one's full legacy.

Now, I absolutely consider Ali and Louis as untouchables in the first two spots, and consider Holmes, Lewis, Marciano, Wlad, Johnson, Sullivan, Holyfield(edited in, somehow left him out upon the initial post) Tyson and Frazier into the next indeterminate mix, with Usyk eventually settling in there following the conclusion of his career, and within that grouping would be where I would place Foreman. As for exact rankings, I'd rather not try to attempt that in the moment without a more thoughtful comparative process.

 

I'm similar to you, I can see Foreman anywhere from #8-11, which is lower than most, but I value dominance over the field (not necessarily during a title reign, just consistently beating the best of the rest) highly in my rankings.

Those who factor legacy more than dominance, will have Foreman higher due to him winning the title after a 10-yeae hiatus and being the oldest HW champion of all time.

 

Happy to see I'm not the only one voting GOAT.