Where do you rank George Foreman?

Good to see there are some very sensible comments on this thread.Makes a pleasant change

 

So could I mate.

 

I agree. Wlad and Holmes are both in my top 5 were as Foreman would be in my top 10. McGrain said anything in the 3-16 range which almost covers the whole thread.

 

I have gone back and forth, switching them, for decades now. Lewis not only won the title three times, he had a significant number of defenses, including quality defenses against respected competition.

George rocked the world winning the undisputed title twice in 20 years. But he didn't hold the title long and I don't think anyone would call the quality of his 90s defenses...not much there. His best defense, including performance-wise, was against Briggs....but then, Briggs never really was anything to write home about either, was he? Shame Foreman was robbed, though.

I can see it either way. What George accomplished during his peak and early 90s career was just remarkable. Lewis was an amazing site to behold as he progressed in his skills. He even beat another ATG, Vitali, at what for a boxer is considered a ripe age.

 

Somewhere between 5th - 8th brings peace to my soul.

 

His record leaves you a bit of leeway when ranking him, depending upon your criteria.

However I have said this before, so it might be timely to say it again.

He very arguable achieved the two greatest wins in the history of the heavyweight division, and there was twenty years separating them.

His first win over Joe Frazier, was the most brutal destruction of a prime top ten heavyweight, that we have have ever seen.

His accomplishment of them coming back to win the lineal title in his late 40s, is simply mind-blowing.

I don't expect to see his like again in my lifetime.

 

Good post.
I have never been a huge Foreman fan- of his style as a fighter- but I have a lot of respect for his accomplishments.
For perspective, his entire amateur career was something like 25 or 27 fights. To go from your first fight to a gold medal in less than 2 years is something that you don't see every day. In his first career, he was matched artfully.
I use artfully instead of carefully for a reason. When you have a potential cash cow heavyweight with less than 100 rounds of experience, you have to develop him, and you also have to make him look good, and his people did a great job. To this day a guy that was learning how to fight on the job is considered an awesome, indestructible titan. Timing favored them in that Fraizer was on his last legs and Norton didn't match well with Foreman. He got educated by Ali and there is no shame in that; Foreman still had less than 200 career rounds at that point and what he learned in that fight changed his life.
After the Ali fight Foreman kind of fell victim to his own ego...the five guys in one night...and then Jimmy Young beat him. George took time off and learned his lessons. He put his ego aside and came to understand that you can't destroy everybody right away just because you want to. Throughout his first career he had trainers telling him to use his jab and he didn't. What was his best weapon the second time around? He learned to be loose in the ring, to let things happen instead of forcing them. In my mind, George, in his second run, was a much better fighter than he was the first time, even if he couldn't do things, physically, like he had done them before.
Because he was more thoughtful and more relaxed in the ring. He said as much several times and many fighters have echoed that in talking about their own careers; by the time they learned it all, they couldn't necessarily do it all any more.

 

Around 8 to 12. Had more than a few historic bouts....Ali, Frazier, Lyle, and that crazy exhibition when he fought 5 guys in one night.

He had some flaws....easy to hit, gassed out in later rounds, slow clubbing punches. But don't let him hut you.

 

Wait till Fury returns to the ring at age 50.

 

Top five

i rank George up there with Johnson and Dempsey because of his win over Frazier

 

Top 15 starting with Dempsey and Wills. Possibly top 20 if you go back all the way.

 

Foreman’s rankings have been heavily skewed by emotion since long before his death.

 

I picked top ten but often find myself placing him top 5. Hard to top his comeback win.

 

It's very difficult for me to come up with an exact answer for whose in my top 10. After Louis and Ali, the 3-5 spots are hotly contested between guys like Lewis, Wladmir, Marciano, etc.

I would for sure have Foreman anywhere between 6-10. What helps him is his insane comeback, arguably the best comeback at HW given the huge length of time between his first and second career. He's got a gold medal, 2 championships, and has a winning record against his best opponents 11-5, with a frightening KO%. His win over Frazier is one of the most remarkable signature wins in history and he made it look easy, and his signature win in his second career over Moorer is Hollywood level drama. No one else crushed 2 undefeated prime champions 20 years apart, and that record likely will never be broken.