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Originally posted by blockhead
lol, i overrate every ali opponent? and i guess you mean i rate every ali opponent high. i could have sworn that i just rate liston, holmes, foreman, and frazier high, unless those four are the only boxers ali ever fought.
everyone with a brain knows joe frazier is a top ten hw. the only people who disagrees either don't know boxing history or just plain rascist. during the period of ali's layoff in 1967-70, frazier was one of the most dominant boxers i've ever seen, he destroyed EVERYBODY at that time, most of his opponents were bigger and taller than him. he has the hardest left hook in history period. he definetely deserves the credit i give him.
george foreman destroyed frazier twice, so common sense would tell you that he ranks higher than frazier, making him a top ten hw as well. he is the hardest hitter period. he also won the title at 45, something no other hw could do at that age.
larry holmes fought ali once, and annihilated him; but ali was 38 and was shot, so that really doesn't count. holmes dominated the late '70s and early '80s. his style would enable him to defeat many all-time great hws.
and liston is one of the most underrated boxers in history period if not the most underrated. the only reason he turned out the way he was in the end were because of ali. he lost to ali twice, which there is no shame in, he lost one fight to marty marshall when he was 22; he was young and inexperienced. however, 2 years later he rematched marshall and crushed him. he lost to leotis martin in 1969 when he was 37 years old. martin was a top contender, and it was not the same liston of old. the combination of liston's strength, speed, punching power, and boxing skills made him and un-stoppable force, and he would dominate even the 70s, if he boxed at that time. no question in my mind that liston had everything you would want to become a great fighter, and he was a great fighter.
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