I personally think George Foreman's comeback was a superior effort to Larry Holmes'

Here is why,



FOREMAN'S BEST WINS IN COMEBACK:

1. Michael Moorer - 35-0, lineal heavyweight champion
2. Lou Savarese - 36-0, USBA heavyweight champion
3. Adilson Rodriguez - 36-2, Brazilian heavyweight champion
4. Alex Stewart - 28-3, fringe contender
5. Pierre Coetzer - 39-4,Fringe contender
6. Crawford Grimsley - 20-0 prospect
7. Jimmy Ellis - 17-0 prospect
8. Bert Cooper - 20-4 Journeyman.
9. Axel Schultz - 21-1, contender ( okay, Schultz got robbed )
10. Gerry Cooney - 28-2, faded veteran.

FOREMANS LOSSES:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Tommy Morrison
3. SHannon Briggs - possible robbery

LARRY HOLMES BEST WINS IN COMEBACK

1. Ray Mercer - 18-0, Solid Contender
2. Jessie Ferguson - 20-12, past prime journeyman.
3. Jose Ribalta - 33-9-1, past prime journeyman.
4. Mike Weaver - 41-17-1, faded veteran
5. James Smith - 44-16-1, faded veteran
6. Butterbean Esche - 65-2-3, make of him what you will
7. Paul Poirer - 29-2, journeyman
8. Michael Greer - 42-11, past prime journeyman
9. Ken Lakusta - 21-19-1, tomato can
10. Quin Navarre- 17-3-1, journeyman.


LARRY HOLMES LOSSES IN COMEBACK:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Brian Nelson
3. Oliver McCall


ANALYSIS: In the loss department, I'd say these guys are basically tied. No real difference there, and even if there is, its marginal at best. From there on out however its not even close. George Foreman had a comeback record of 31-3-26, while Holmes' second career consisted of 21-3-10. Additionally, their competition weighs heavily in favor of Foreman. Foreman's best comeback win was his KO of Michael Moorer - a 35-0 lineal champion who had just taken the title from Evander Holyfield, making Foreman the oldest man to ever regain the lineal crown. Holme's best victory was his decision over Ray Mercer - an 18-0 prospect who's best win was over Tommy Morrison. Clearly Foreman takes the cake in terms of single best win. As we go further down the line to second tier opponents, it gets rather ugly. Foreman fought a fair number of undefeated prospects, fringe contenders and respectable journeyman who's ages ranged anywhere from late 20's to perhaps early 30's, and who had fairly respectable records. Larry Holmes was fighting 40+ year old former champs, ex-contenders and journeyman who sometimes even crossed into the realm of tomato can.. Now, you could say that Foreman received a gift in the Schultz fight, but then most ( including myself ) felt that he was robbed in the Shannon Briggs match. If we want we can mix and match by counting his fight with Schultz a loss while giving him the nod for Briggs, and frankly I think he actually comes out better. But, that of course is up to the individual. Once again, Foreman's comeback made history by shocking the boxing world to regain the heavweight title 20 years after his first reign. Larry Holmes failed on all three of his attempts to win back a strap, including against two of the worst alpha titists of all time in Brian Nelson and Oliver McCall........

CONCLUSION : Some might make a valid argument that Larry Holmes was a tad more deserving of his title shot at Evander Holyfield than Foreman was by virtue of his win over Mercer. That's fine, but if we're talking about who had the better comeback run overall, the award goes to George Foreman and its not even close.

1. Foreman had the better comeback record
2. Foreman finished his comeback with wins over better opponents
3. Foreman regained the heavyweight title, while Holmes didn't

 

I did not see the Neilson fight and have heard very little about it. Brian Neilson however was notorious for being involved in fights that were often fixed or had questionable outcomes. That said, it is possible that Holmes may have been robbed, but also consider that he was in the ring with a man who had a fabricated career and probably had no business being called a top rater to begin with.......

 

I don't think anything needs to be changed, except people's ability to be honest as well as to look at the WHOLE picture, which some are clearly incapable of......