Foreman shook up the world and the entire HW scene in his own way when he regained the title against Moorer. Leading up to and after winning the title he also beat several white hopes of varying quality, changing the landscape of the division. 36-0 Savarese, 16-0 power punching Jimmy Ellis, 20-0 Crawford Grimsley. He also to some degree exposed the undefeated Shannon Briggs despite being nearly 50 years old. On top of that, he generated a huge interest in the HW division and his new persona, motivated a large number of old heavyweights to come out of retirement, and pushed for one of the potential megafights of the decade in Foreman/Tyson. He made a massive splash in the sport to say the least. My question is this... What other fighters have come out of retirement or a hiatus and made large impacts on the sport as opposed to simply being forgotten or ignored?
Your wording is confusing leading up the the win over Moorer. Of those listed, he only beat a very green Ellis.... But getting back to your point, Ray Robinson came back mighty strong in 1955, after his initial retirement. Many think Eder Jofre is the greatest comeback fighter of all-time. And a 25-0 record after a four year retirement, suggests they have a point... Duran and comeback seem quite cosy together. Ray Leonard lasting 12 rounds with Hagler, with just one awful performance in five years, would be impressive... Almost beating him, is even more so... Henry Maske gaining revenge of Virgil Hill is a modern example of a good comeback.
Tyson post-prison... Not the same fighter but I doubt anyone can deny that he made an impact on the sport. Jersey Joe Walcott could have very well hung them up in 1940 after losing to Abe Simon but he decided to make his comeback in 1944. He outboxed Joe Baksi, beat Lee Q Murray, ended Jimmy Bivins's winning streak, won a decision over Lee Oma, beat Joey Maxim 2 out of 3 times, dropped Elmer Ray out of contention, made Louis look bad, stopped Harold Johnson, knocked Charles out with one punch and lost his title to Rocky Marciano. I'd say he certainly altered the way some fighters' career went. He also inspired many other boxers with his clever, unorthodox style. Walcott would just be another one of the many forgotten fighters of the past had he not decided to make a comeback. Willie Pep was not supposed to fight again after his plane crash but he went onto have the legendary rivalry with Sandy Saddler. Jim Jeffries' comeback may not have been successful but his bout with Jack Johnson was one of historical significance. Had he decided to stay in his farm and live the easy life while remaining undefeated, boxing history just wouldn't be the same.
Iran Barkley deserves a mention, after being beaten by Duran, Nunn and destroyed by my man Benn he was written off but managed to beat the odds and win world titles at two further weights.
I would not call Ellis or Crawford power punchers. They feasted on weak competition. Foreman picked them for a reason. IE, they could not fight a lick. One great comeback that gets little press is Eder Jorfe. He took some time off, and came back to be champion again at an older age in the bantam division. Vitali Klitschko's comeback with near 4 years off, and no warm up fights at age 37 was impressive as well.
Not that he became a champion or anything but I was very impressed to see James Douglas come out of a coma and be competitive for a few fights. He looked great against Quinne Navarre who was a top 15-20 ranked heavyweight at best, but it was quite the achievement coming from 400+ pounds and out of a coma to compete like he did. I felt really bad for Douglas when he was blown out by Savarese. It was almost like the Holyfield fight for Douglas. Two monumental achievements and two monumental let downs. Either way it was a compelling story.
In the sixties, the answer would have been Sugar Ray Robinson. Came back to win the middleweight title three times and defeat Olson, Fullmer, and Basilio.
Marco Antonio Barrera after his two losses to Junior Jones gave Morales the toughest fight of his career, beat him in two rematches, and won titles up at Featherweight and Super Featherweight.
