Rate HW comebacks after long layoffs

so a former mw is your yardstick for good hw performance ok nuff said

 

George
Ali
Vitali
Tyson

 

Rule of thumb for comebacks. For every year outside of the ring, add that to the fighters age.

For every 20 pounds above their fighting weight they need to lose to get into shape add an additional year.

Ali's comeback had the best overall wins, though he was pretty young.

I would say Vitali's comeback was the most impressive when you consider his age and in-activity as he won back his belt and defended it many times without a loss or hardly losing a round during the process.

Foreman's comeback was a long running event, after losing to Holyfield and Morrison, and being down on the cards vs Moorer, he landed the bomb.

 

Good points.

The other big factor===and it ties in with the weight and age factor===is how much punishment they had to absorb in their first go around. Vitali sure did not absorb much, but he had all those surgeries. So, a big subtraction anyway.

I wonder how Ali and George do if they had numerous surgeries themselves? I definitely think that subtracts at least as much as the time off in both of those guys.

 

Foremans wins against Quawi , Cooper , Cooney and Rodriguez were better than a shot to bits/ out of shape Sam Peter.

 

Foreman's would get my vote because of how long he was off. Ali was the best after his lay off but was still young when he returned.

 

How many is numerous?

 

was it fcuk, vits faced the kind of fighters the others except foreman early on wouldnt go near for fear of being mocked for facning such paucity.

vits comeback more impressive than foremans? vits retired by the age foreman was coming back!

 

3

 

Foreman & Vitali....Joe Louis lost much but it was still successful enough to get him a title shot & then elimination vs Marciano....Tyson after prison, he also lost much & bad attitude but still not bad considering.

much is said about Ali's 3 years off before his comeback vs Quarry, then Bonavena then Frazier but Jack Dempsey was inactive for 3 years and came right back against Tunney without a tune-up so not bad, Ali was 28 and Dempsey was 31

 

It doesn't compare to the comebacks already stated, but Frank Bruno had nearly 3 years out of the ring after his first loss to Tyson and initial retirement due to a detached retina.

He came back and scored two of the best wins of his career against Coetzer and Williams, and put on what some consider his best performance in losing to Lewis while ahead on the cards. Following that he scored some quick wins and then finally won a version of the title against McCall.

He achieved more in his second career than his first, which would have been unthinkable when he was facing eye surgery and had one foot in a showbiz career rather than boxing.

 

Jersey Joe Walcott didn't fight for over 4 years following his loss to Abe Simon, and made his comeback at age 30 with the less than impressive record of 26-8-1.

7 years later he won the title at the 5th attempt, racking up a hall of fame career with legendary fights against Louis, Charles and Marciano as well as a host of top contenders.

 

Are you crazy? Peter was #1 ranked, not inactive, old or small.

 

Yes, it was more impressive. He had no warm up fights, and defended his belt multiple times. At no point were any of his matches vs. top ten opponents close.

Foreman? He was rocked by Lakusta, should have lost to Alex Stewart on points and when he finally got his chances thanks to marketability, wasn't close to Holyfield or Tommy Morrison. Most people think he lost to Alex Shultz, too. And he hand picked slow and easy guys to hit for the most part. He'll be remembers for an amazing upset over Mike Moorer, but he clearly was not a formable as Vitlali was during his, taking guys like Grimly and Martin the distance.

Does anyone here actually watch and remember these fights? If there is one thing this forum could use more of its people who saw what happened, and retained if for discussions.

Foreman came back at age 38, but the way Vitali age 37.

 

What belts did Qawi (note correct spelling), Cooper, Cooney and Rodriguez hold?

Peter had just beaten McCline, Maskaev and Toney twice in his last 4 fights and held the WBC belt. He was in the same weight range as he was for the above mentioned victories. How exactly was he out of shape and shot to bits? And it's worth noting that Peter was not Vitali's only comeback victory. You can add a once beaten Gomez, once beat Adamek, undefeated Arreola, undefeated Johnson, undefeated Solis, undefeated Charr and crazy @ss Briggs.