I would consider him to be the greatest heavyweight of all time if he had a W next to alis name on his record. This is the only change that would be needed to his record This would make the rankings 1 Foreman 2 Louis 3 Ali I already rank him as one of the 3 best head to head heavyweights along Lewis and Vitali
But he didnt and he only has beat 4-5 top10 fighters in his career, got beat by Jimmy Young and would have got schooled by Holmes. Actually if he beat Ali it wouldnt look that impressive because Ali would be seen as washed up with his losses to Frazier/Norton and the fact Ali wouldnt become a 2 time champ.
Agreed, especially considering that Ali was a 3-1 underdog going into that fight, and was already viewed as being past it. I do however think that eliminating that loss in exchange for a victory over a still very solid contender ( Ali ) would have helped him though. The real difference however would depend greatly on how he proceded to defend his title. Had he managed to hold onto the crown for 3 or 4 more years and accumulated 8-10 additional defences before Holmes came around, it might have done something for his standing...
exactly. Perception is what drives reality. While beating Ali would have been phenominal, the fact that Ali was the underdog and was considered washed up suggests that a Foreman win would have been expected and would not hold the same weight that the Ali name suggests. Personally I've always felt that even if he beat Ali in Kinshasa, he would have reigned up until he gave Larry Holmes a title shot.
hmm well even if foreman would have won. he still wouldn't be top three. i think foreman is a less greater atg then holmes and liston, and you really believe vitali to be one of the best head to head heavyweights ???????
I don't know, kinda depends on the fashion he would've won it... I can't see anyone having three bigger victories in his resume had he beat Ali along with the destructions of Frazier and Norton. It's a should've, could've, would've, but if he beat Ali I think he would have been the greatest.
Foreman only beat 4 top fighters in his career? How many did Larry Holmes and Joe Louis beat? So why are they ranked high? Can anybody answer me that?
If Larry Holmes couldnt beat a washed up Ken Norton then why would you assume he would beat Foreman? Because Larry Holmes likes to lie and say Foreman avoided him in their primes when in reality Larry Holmes wanted no part of Foreman then.