Is George Foreman the most overrated boxer in history?

I think that we're all getting a bit side tracted with things like " Foreman beat a shot Frazier ", or " Foreman fought tomato cans in his comeback ".

What we need to do, is redirect our focus to the title of the thread which was " Is George Foreman the MOST overrated boxer in history? "
The obvious answer is no, he wasn't..........Period.........

 

Prime Frazier's pressure, pace and body attack, would give Foreman all kinds of problems. The swarming element that brings the notion of Frazier's style being all wrong for Foreman wouldn't matter.

Prime Frazier's head movement would have kept him away from George's heavy shots through the early rounds. Even though Ali landed significant punches against Joe in the FOTC, he missed many shots, and Foreman has nowhere near the handspeed of Ali. George doesn't hit pre-FOTC Frazier as cleanly as he did in 1973.

With respect to conditioning, I don't think it's too far fetched to believe that a pre-FOTC conditioned Frazier is capabale of surviving the early rounds, getting to George's body and stopping him late, perhaps before the 10th round. Conditioning would be a factor in this fight if Foreman doesn't get Frazier out of the fight early. It happened in 1973, but I don't believe it would have happened if to a pre-FOTC Joe Frazier.

 

Can you say - Denial?

This content is protected

 

Nice picture Mr. Magoo.

I'm curious as to the significance of the Fred Rogers reference. What are you saying? George Foreman is fancy on the outside? Joe Frazier is fancy on the inside? Everybody's fancy, everybody's fine? Mr Magoo are you fancy? I know I've got mine! Ha, ha, ha ha!

Not denying anything. I just believe Foreman never fought the dominant champion from the late 1960's and wouldn't have destroyed a pre-FOTC conditioned Frazier with the relative ease he did in 1973.

I'll give a pre-FOTC Frazier more respect against Foreman and say he makes it past the early rounds providing a much more competitive fight than what actually happened.

Logic says Foreman stops any version of Frazier which I don't argue with, but prime Frazier's chances of beating Foreman greatly increases if George doesn't knock him out before the middle rounds. Foreman almost punched himself out at the end of the fight and was trying to catch his breath in the post fight interview. I can't see how stamina and conditioning would not be a factor, especially if Frazier is still in the fight when the bell sounds for the middle rounds.

 

QFT


Seems like a lot of guys here prefer to believe the myth of the jolly fat Foreman and his ''inspiring'' wins.

 

- Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?

It's a neighborly day in this beautywood,
A neighborly day for a beauty,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?

Won't you please,
Won't you please,
Please won't you be my neighbor?

Spoken: Hi television neighbor, I'm glad we're together again.... ​

 

Please, Foreman is what legends are made of. He may not be in the Top 5, but in the hearts of many boxing fans and non boxing fans he is one of the greatest of all time, and always will be remembered as such.

 

No we can't, because you blatantly continue to miss the point or just flat out ignore it. The point being that Foreman after 10 years of dormancy had to be viewed as nothing more than a mere prospect starting off. It wasn't like after a full decade and returning at the age of 39 that he was going to fight 2 or 3 tunups then continue where he left off fighting Lyle and Frazier calibur opponents. Not only was he basically starting off back at square one, but he was actually more disadvantaged than some of the debuting prospects at the time by virtue of the fact that guys like Bowe, Mercer, Seldon, Morrison and Lewis at least were in their 20's and had the benefit of a very recent amateur career. George on the otherhand, wasn't boxing in golden glove or olympic fights, but rather carrying a bible for much of the 1980's.

Now, that being said go take a look at what his opponent list looked like in his first 24 fights as opposed to Bowe or Morrison's first 24. The difference isn't that tremendous, and frankly a lot of the same names even pop up..

 

To bad that another ex champion in his 40s was fighting a better crop of fighters and actually beat a legit contender to earn his shot which means that you dont even have a flimsy case.


Stop making excuses for him he fought guys who where at best third tier because together with his name it was the easiest way to get an undeserved titleshot.

He carefully avoided every second and first tier fighter unless it was for a title.

 

Bull**** excuse I could easily turn your escuse around and say that Holmes is more impressive since he obviously had more wear and tear on his body beacuse he was more active.

Holmes victory over Mercer >>>> every guy Foreman beat (with the exception of his lucky win over Moorer)

Foreman fought **** until he got a fight with a titleholder caerfully avoiding everyone dangerous until he got his money fight.

Holmes fought everyone willing to give him a fight.

 

Nice post DudeGuyMan and respect to you for your opinion.

Frazier apparently put off cataract surgery a couple of times before the FOTC. I'm sure he ignored the advice of his physicians not to jeopardize the planning of the biggest fight in the history of the sport. High blood pressure was also a problem with Frazier during his career and both Futch and Durham wanted him to post-phone the FOTC and the 1973 title defense against Foreman.

I totally hear what your saying in terms of Frazier being only two years removed from the FOTC. Still, his decline was evident and one can definitely credit Ali for the beating he gave Frazier in the FOTC. Joe left a lot in the ring that night and it probably affected him more than a lot of people realize.

Daniels and Stander were easy paydays for Frazier, and if anything, both of those fights showed a Frazier that wasn't the same champion who beat Ali in 1971. This is the very reason why I believe Foreman didn't fight the best conditioned Frazier. Futch called off the sparring sessions with Norton because Frazier was looking awful in training, not exhibiting the same drive and pressure that made him the champion he was prior to the Foreman loss.

 

I already explained this to you yesterday and you ignored my answer. Here it is again, and I'll try to make it a bit more legible

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

Anyone who's seen Frazier in FOTC and against Foreman easily spots the difference between the two versions. How much of this is down to Foreman as an opponent we'll never know for sure. I for one would sure like to see a peak, motivated Frazier against Foreman. George would still be the favourite, but still...

 

I salute you! Well-written and full of unshakable facts......And I agree with everything you wrote!