George Foreman Had Zero Defense

And his Gold metal win over the Russian at the age of 18 or 19? What's your excuse there?

 

Nothing. You'll see that I mentioned that earlier in the thread and mentioned that George was doing something right...

 

Shocking! You actually gave him something.

p.s. all the fighters I mentioned are basically elite level fighters. Sure a few are journeymen, but primary they were all very talented fighters.
George didn't just win. He obliterated most of them. Let me ask you another question since you seem to have all the answers. Do any other elite level fighters fight journeymen as they are attempting to build their resume? Or was it just George?

 

Yes, i think that fighters building their resumes on journeymen might have happened once or twice in the history of the sport. There have been belt holders who've had a good portion of their title defenses against jouneymen types.

I've seen a whole lot of George Foreman, probably every bit of footage out there, and I'm just not as impressed as you are. My mind is made up on this one. He had great punching power, and accomplished a lot in the sport for sure. He deserves to be somewhere among the ATGs, but hard to say where.

FWIW, the OP is 26 years old according to their profile. I suspect that person hasn't been swayed by decades of Foreman folklore as some here have. He may have just seen a guy flailing away at Ali and eating a high percentage of Ali's punches and probably wasn't blown away by what he saw. Somehow I think the OP is seeing what I see. The OP also acknowledged that Foreman was an ATG, as do I, but I think he often looked sloppy on his way to reaching that status...

 

Obviously, he was the greatest heavyweight of all time, hence 1st place.
Highest knockout ratio in heavyweight history in that era.
Can you think of a more menacing fighter than Foreman?
Can you think of a fighter with more violent knockouts than Foreman?

Not sure how you could overlook what he did in the ring and take that side. Because he was brilliant.

 

Definitely menacing. A fighter with more violent knockouts? Might be a couple, Louis perhaps, Wilder (albeit vs. average opposition) but George is up there.

Not sure where I'd rank Foreman among the ATGs, but it wouldn't be #1. Not a long enough reign. Not even close. Top 12 or so? Fine.

 

A 1973 version of George Foreman had Zero defense because he was all offense.

 

Got to the website called "Boxing Over Broadway". Look for the article called "George Foreman-Not an all time great!" Then get back to us. He talks about Foreman's flaws...all the stiffs he fought on his way up...and continued to fight...how he lost to light punching Jimmy Young in 1977....and how he never showed the skills to called an all time great!

 

Go to the website called "The Bleacher Report", Look for an article called "Top 10 most Overrated Fighters of All Time" Then get back to us. Rocky comes in at #3 most overrated in history.....He talks about Rocky's resume.....all the small old men he beat....and continued to beat.......and how Joe Louis could barely be called Joe Louis anymore.....and how Zed had lost his killer instinct.....and how Rocky didn't have the resume to be considered top 5!

It's a story/opinion on the internet so it's got to be right yeah????? Let's treat it as gospel yeah?

 

Actually saw that article before. I would put Foreman somewhere among the ATGs, so I can't say I agree with the author there, but some interesting points were made in that article.

 

The man wasn’t without skill. But his defense wasn’t very good in either career when compared to the other greats. He was great at catching jabs (he got made fun of by Ali for his mummy look). Baer and Foreman and Wilder had such great chins and devastating power they often forgone skill for brutality. Foreman being the most skilled of those three.