At one point, all of these fighters reached a level in which they came off as unbeatable. Ali after Williams, Foreman after Norton, Frazier after Ali, Tyson after Spinks, Liston after Patterson, etc. Some of these guys looked they they'd rule until they got old. No need for monday morning quarterbacks here but from foresight (as best as you can) which of these fighters simply looked unbeatable. Which of these fighters had the greatest aura of invincibility? Disscuss.
Foreman has to be in the absolute elite... People were literally fearing he was going to kill Ali. Kind of hard NOT to think that after he absolutely destroyed Frazier twice and Norton to boot.
Of the list I chose Mike Tyson. Though I would have also put in RJJ. In his prime he was unstoppable and his crowd-pleasing style made it that much sweeter.
Foreman. He was big, strong, undefeated, destroyed Frazier and Norton in two rounds each, and had knocked out Peralta in the tenth round of their rematch. While Ali might have been predicted to dance his way to a decision win, the idea of a clean mid rounds knockout would have been utterly absurd to most.
I voted for Tyson. When he lost to Douglas he was conserdered invincibial and for a lot of people the Aura of invincibility did not start co go away intell Holyfield beat him. Lewis of course put a complete end to his aura. All the other boxers in the poll had auras of invincibility as well but how many of them were still looked at as invincible long after their primes?
Tyson by far. In an era where boxing was on the decline tyson brought it back in a weak era, not to mention he was young enough to be seen as the future dominant champ. No one has gotten as much attention as Tyson in the Media, not even Foreman. Just look at covers of Boxing magazines. Even after he was defeated people thought he was going to again be unbeatable. Maybe people just wanted him to be more than what he was then again maybe even the casual fan could see he was something special. Either way he was voted #1 most wasted talent of any athlete in history by ESPN, that in itself speaks volumes.
Tyson mainly due to the era most of the top heavyweights were old are not that great Holyfield was still unproven at heavy and Bowe and Lewis had yet to arrive.
Marciano was view as unbeatable. Sure they may say Dempsey or Louis would have beating Rocky in thsos past match ups. But by the time Marciano rule the divsion with a iron fist, No one saw any one from the top ten contenders down, that could take Marciano's crown. People felt Wills had a good shot vs Dempsey. Or Schemling had a good shot in the rematch for the crown ete. But with Marciano, No one say Charles, or Moore beating the Rock. Even later champ Patterson was not view as a threat when he beat Moore for the crown. I read the Ring Mag of Marciano retirements, and the writer said that Marciano would have beating Patterson and Hurrican Jackson on the same night.
What a great question. Although I feel that it's the one all the historical no marks will vote for - have to agree with them. That's the score. He surpassed all those who went before, probably. But those who vote for him - pay careful attention to those on the list. They all deserve to be there. They are all there or there abouts. And for me, it is hard to vote for Tyson over Louis who created horrible fear.
Lennox Lewis should be on the list. I bet in terms of inspiring terror in contendors he is #1. Chris?
Definitely Hagler after beating Scypion in four. Combine that with the other recent performances--Obel, Lee, Hamsho, and Sibson, and you have the perfect performances from the perfect fighter. That's as good as it ever gets. Very close runner up: Thomas Hearns after flattening Duran. I was a believer. You can throw in the Shuler fight-so awe inspiring that I forgot about the defeat to Hagler. And that body was awesome too with all those muscles. He looked perfect to me.
