Argument Could Be Made That George Foreman is Greatest Heavyweight Ever

[Tiozzo]

I would like to bring up an element that is a bit underrated when the time comes to rate fighters.

I would like to make an analogy with the case of Saddler and Pep, which is very similar to the one of Foreman-Ali. Some people think Saddler should be ranked number 1 AT featherweight, and Pep number 2, because Saddler beat Pep 3 or 4 times (if not more), and Pep beat him only once.

But was Saddler a gracious fighter ? Did he do things only him could do ? No. He was mainly brutal force, dirty and had a granite chin.

Pep, on the other hand, was fantastic to watch. Everything he did was beautiful as Ali would put it. He was unique.

So I do believe that a unique fighter, gracious and skilled will alaways be ranked higher than a brutal force.

Foreman, he was strong, but he was fighting like a mommy. The styles do count when you rank fighters, whether you're aware of it or not.

So in the end, I think Ali would deserve to be ranked higher than Foreman even if Foreman had beaten him. I know it's very debatable, but that's how I look at it.

[bojangles1987]

Ali completely took Foreman apart mentally and knocked him out, pretty far past his best at the time. No need for a rematch.

Foreman in a head to head matchup may beat most heavyweights ever, but there's much more to it than that. He's top 10.

[Spray_resistant]

You make some good points TS, he is absolutely one of the best ever.

Maybe didn't have it all there in terms of technical skill but could be the hardest puncher to ever lace them up, certainly top 5.

Coming back in his 40s and winning the world title is the icing on the cake for his ATG status though, in addition to beating good comp earlier, much respect to big George.

[The Beatles]

Foreman lost to a past prime Ali................ nuff said

[hugh grant]

He was great foreman, but isnt it strange that someone who didnt look all that special got the job done.
I suppose hitting hard is important. I suppose Foreman was good at other stuff as well but without having watched much of him i dont know whatit is that made him so succesful.

[Ryn0]

No, I don't think you can make a case for him being the best HW ever. He's a top 5 HW IMO, just because he has move power than Ali and got the job done quicker doesn't mean he's a better fighter.

Ali has the better resume, Louis had the longevity etc.

[SoldierWarrior]

Did Foreman say he was drugged against Ali or was that someone else? And didn't someone think Wlad was drugged against Brewster for some reason? I don't know... Sounds like excuses to me in my opinion.

[RockyB]

i actually have been thinking the exact same thing..
imo he should be top 3 in anyones list.

[JMaster]

Just because someone has bigger punching power, it doesn't mean they're a greater fighter.

Earnie Shavers and Gerry Cooney knocked out Norton in 1 round. Are they greater than Foreman?

In almost all of the examples you gave, Ali was past his prime.

He wasn't in his prime in any of the Frazier or Norton fights. Not in the Foreman, Ellis, Young and Lyle fights, either. Sadly, you're probably just using BoxRec as your source of knowledge.

There's no excuses for the Foreman fight. Foreman was in his absolutely prime and Ali was past it. You can always say a fighter could've done this and could've done that. But, in the end, they lost.

I take it you haven't actually seen the first Ali-Frazier fight. It was a very close fight and some even scored it for Ali. Besides that, Ali was suffering from ring rust (as evidenced by his lack of stamina in the later rounds), while Frazier was in the best shape of his career.

Honestly, it sounds like you haven't even seen any of the fights you're talking about.

[Bright-Eyes]

foreman is more overrated than anything.

His record is padded with only notable wins coming over Norton,Moorer,Chuvalo,Stewart,frazier and Lyle and that's it.

foreman avoided fighting a number of heavyweights throughout his career,many of whom Ali did fight and beat.


You compare foreman's resume to Ali or Joe Louis's and he can't hold a candle to either.


There is no such argument for foreman

but was winning that fight.

Either you've never seen that fight or you don't have a clue on how to score a fight.

foreman also beat shannon "the asthma cannon" briggs that's gotta count for a lot.

Well if we are to count that as a win for foreman then we should count foreman's "wins" over Alex Stewart and axel schulz as losses.