An interesting question I'd like to ask the board on ATG's

Agreed. Central point, you don't need great competition to be considred Great.

 

Rather than go round in circles about the first part of your post, I thought I jump into Fosters best seven wins at light heavyweight.

1 ) Tiger. Former middle weight 5'8 inches tall, and with a poor KO record of just 33%. Was age 38 for the Foster fight. Lost a lot of times to lesser names.

2 ) Cotton. Age 40! Already had lost 23 times. Just a name at this point. 2nd to last fight for Cotton.

3 ) Depula. Just 19- 6- 3 when he meet Foster. Could not beat an old Tiger. Retired 2 fights after meeting Foster. Not ranked in Ring Magzine annual ratings in 1968 or 1969 ( when the fight took place ) A very weak name to be in anyone's top 7.

4 ) Quarry. Best known for being Jerry's brother. Highly manufactured on the way up to 35-0. His fight before Foster was vs a 16-12 man. The fight before that was vs a 13-6-3 man. His record is full of no-names. Did he every beat a ring magazine ranked top ten opponent? I doubt it.
Foster nearly killed him.

5 ) Rondon. He was ranked #1. A sign how weak the division was. 36-5-1 when he meet Foster, he only won 3 of his last 12 fights, so it's plausible he had seen better days.

6 ) Kendall. Ranked as high as #7 in ring magazine, he already had lost 4 times prior to meeting Foster and also drew 5 times. Pretty much a filler type of title defense.

7 ) Finnegan. Ranked as high as #4, he gave Foster a tough fight!

Unofficial AP scorecard (through 13 completed rounds) - 6-5-2 Foster

A man with a 43% KO ratio hurt Foster.

^^^ After reviewing Fosters best wins, nothing really stands out. He beat his best name guys ( Tiger and Cotton ) when they were very old. Foster had trouble with a #4 ranked guy.

Thanks for listing his best wins.

Rondon or Finnegan could be Foster's best wins of the names you listed. Yikes! Kovalev I believe would have an easier time with the same guys.

 

Who fought tougher light heavies at the 175 pound limit in their first 29 fights. Kovalev or Foster?

I say Kovalev. I also want to point out that Foster lost FOUR times before his 29th fight, and his best seven wins are on the weak side relative to other hall of fame light heavies ranked in the say the top 8.

At age 32 Kovalev has of title defenses left. You're conveniently using Fosters long career while Kovalev has big fights ahead, possibly with Ward or Stevenson. Either of whom in my opinion would trump Foster's best win at light heavy.

In fact, Hopkins might have been better than any light heavy Foster beat. It's debatable.

You never hear Foster mentioned for having a good chin. Usually, it's the opposite.

 

My point was you don't need to defeat great competition to be considered great.

Foster is an example of that.

Hopkins, old as he is could be viewed as a top win for Foster.

Ward or Stevenson, I think are better than any light heavy Foster beat. Be sure to check the ages of Tiger and Cotton as they were even more past it than Hopkins was, regardless of age.

 

He will, and when he happens either Ward or Stevenson will be better than ANY light heavyweight opponent Foster gave a title shot to. Agreed?

I'd take the Hopkins who fought Kovalev over the Tiger who fought Foster. Hopkins is well preserved and has not been in many tough fights. Tiger by the time he meet Foster had plenty of tough fights

We agree. That was my central point of the thread. I think I pretty much nailed Fosters competition, which most view as weak, and think Kovalev would have an easier time with the same guys.