I have him at #8. He was the 2nd best hw of his era, but I have him well above any other 2nd best guy in the all time rankings and above some #1's. Partly due to his unprecedented comeback success. First, though, he was the clear #2 in the most famed era of HW boxing. Some may argue Frazier, but apart from dominating Frazier twice, he also destroyed Norton, the clear #4 of the era. He also beat Lyle in perhaps the most purely exciting HW top contender fight ever, and Lyle was also probably better than anyone Frazier beat except Ali. To then come back and win the lineal title, even under ideal circumstances, in his mid forties cinches it for me. Great size for his era, great power, chin, determination for any era.
Top 5 scalps: Frazier (twice) Norton Moorer Lyle ****ey Other notable wins Cooper Quawi Stewart Roman Chavulo Wepner No question that he is a top ten.
He has some great singular wins, but his resume is rather thin outside of them and he is not proven against a larger variety of styles. Nevertheless, his back-to-back destructions of champion Frazier and #1 contender Norton, along with his KO of Moorer 20 odd years later, earns him a spot in my top 10. #8 for Big George.
I would throw in the fan-friendly brawls against Lyle and ****ey, two equally big/powerful men with great wins who might have been champs had they just had the same toughnes and intangibles.
Clear top 10, I personally have him 4th. 2 time champion, oldest champion ever, beat an ATG in Frazier. Also Olympic champion inside 2 years of starting boxing and world champion inside 6 years of first stepping in the ring, crazy power, the guy was just a beast.
Physical power house. Says everything about his power that he could regain the HW championship 20 years after he first lost it. His career spanned 60's 70s's 80's 90's I know he had a 10 year break but his record (and KO percentage) says it all.