heavyweight legends comebacks at 37-38 --who was in the best shape?

joe louis(charles- marciano)
george foreman
muhammad ali (holmes)
mike tyson(mcbride)

i pick JOE LOUIS--he looked the best for a 38 yr old comeback boxer

I guess Joe Louis was in the best shape. Although he lost to Charles it was far from a disgrace. Louis wasn't that bad for his fight with Marciano either although his defence had deteriorated.

I remember how carefully George Foreman picked his opponents in the early part of his comeback. He was not ashamed to admit that he only fought guys who were not a serious threat to him, guys that liked to stand and slug, or smaller guys that he could jab half to death. I defy you to find 1 skilled outside boxer with good footspeed that George fought in those early days of his comeback. I must have seen about 4 or 5 of those fights that George had between March 1987 and his fight with Cooney in Jan. 1990. If Foreman had taken on Holyfield or any other top fighter during that period he would have looked awful I'm sure.

Ali had no business fighting at all when he took on Larry Holmes. He was so washed up that I couldn't even bear to watch. His defence was still there but his offence had dwindled to a tiny shadow of what it once was.

Tyson was also a shell of what he once was when he fought McBride. A lot of his skills were still there but his will to struggle and overcome adversity was gone, along with his stamina. Jeff Fenech couldn't stand it any more and had to call it off. It was a touching moment in the history of an all-time great.

Holyfield is in the best shape even though he is losing ;)

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Originally Posted by Starr

Holyfield is in the best shape even though he is losing ;)

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Holy gets my vote too.

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Originally Posted by Unknowndonor

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Originally Posted by Starr

Holyfield is in the best shape even though he is losing ;)

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Holy gets my vote too.

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Of course Evander is in the best shape for a guy in his late 30s or early 40s, but he never quit fighting. His longest layoff was 13 months between the James Toney and Larry Donald fights. All the other guys except Tyson took some time off (Louis 27 months, Ali 25 months, Foreman 8 years ;D) and were attempting comebacks. Tyson's fight with McBride was not really a comeback since it was only 11 months between the Danny Williams fight and his fight with McBride. Tyson's comeback fight was in reality his fight with Williams after a 17 month layoff after his quick knockout of Clifford Etienne.

James Toney.

I don't think Joe Louis ever had defence IMO, and granted he was older, but I think Marciano would have beaten a younger Louis simply because he couldn't deal with somebody who could give a punch in his class, and had a much higher work rate. Thats why I think he loses against most big guys even nowadays...

definitely holyfield

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Originally Posted by undefeated

joe louis(charles- marciano)
george foreman
muhammad ali (holmes)
mike tyson(mcbride)

i pick JOE LOUIS--he looked the best for a 38 yr old comeback boxer

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theres alot more besides those 4 though

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Originally Posted by undefeated

joe louis(charles- marciano)
george foreman
muhammad ali (holmes)
mike tyson(mcbride)

i pick JOE LOUIS--he looked the best for a 38 yr old comeback boxer

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of the list it would have to be joe louis