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Which athlete had the greatest comeback?

jeremyemilio said:
Foreman was a monster.

Ali stole his soul and he still walked through 5 quality fighters (including another demolition of Frazier) before losing his second fight ever by decision and then calling it quits for a decade.

When he came back he wasn't nearly the killer he had been before retiring, but he was still good enough to thump most of the (weaker than usual) next generation of HWs.

People talk about how fat and out of shape he was... but he was never stopped again after Ali.

The problem is, I'm not sure I'd even call it a serious come-back. He never trained like a world class HW again after his first 'retirement.' He was just hanging out for shits and giggles and doing the late night talk show circuit. He just happened to be that good.
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That generation wasn't weak. It was probably the 2nd strongest in history (only behind Foreman's). Foreman didn't really face most of the top strength of the division. Not to take away from his KO of Moorer, though. Moorer was never a great fighter and he wasn't one of the best of that era, but he did manage to beat Holyfield and he was the legitimate lineal champion of the time. Foreman coming back at his age and achieving that is exceptionally impressive.
 
Seano said:
He was in his 40's.

His comeback was pretty weak really. He was a big walking punching bag who managed to beat one of the weakest HW champs in history at that time.
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Coming back in your 40s (after a lengthy hiatus) and beating any decent competition is impressive, let alone KOing the lineal HW champion of the world. His resume during his comeback is overrated by some, but becoming the lineal HW champion of the world in your 40s after that kind of hiatus from the sport is remarkable in any context, really.
 
Mario Lemieux. His name is already spoken with a certain reverence, but just think of what his career could have been without the cancer and back injuries.
 
Heisenberg said:
Adrian Peterson?
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He was my first thought. Rushes for the 2nd most yards in a single season...ever...8 months after tearing his ACL/MCL and has become the absolute gold standard for recovery.
 
Niki Lauda basically cheated death and was world champion about 14 months later. Mother*ucker was determined, and no mistake.
 
Stephen hawking, years after blowing everyone's mind with his theories, had lost respect in the community and eve become kind of a joke. Then he shows up at a conference with some new theories and blows everyone's mind again.

Yeah. He qualifies as an athlete, right?
 
Pfff


Aged 17, he was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
At the 1998 World Cup he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament in helping Brazil reach the final where he suffered a convulsive fit hours before the defeat to France. On 21 November 1999, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the pitch.
Medical exams after the match confirmed that the striker had ruptured a tendon in his knee and would require surgery.

During his first comeback on 12 April 2000, he played only seven minutes during the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.
_44427855_ronaldo_injury_inter.jpg


Ronaldo's recurring injury problems forced him to miss the entire 2000-01 season and much of the two seasons either side of it. After two operations and months of rehabilitation,
Ronaldo came back for the 2002 World Cup.

He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer.
2002-2.jpg


Later in 2002, he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid. Ronaldo was given his most recognizable nickname, Il Fenomeno.

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal.
 
George Foreman takes this.

Andre Agassi should be mentioned: Went from #1 in the world to #140, and then had a resurgence and rose all they way back to #2.
 
Bo Jackson. Came back from hip replacement surgery and could still play.
 
JayElectra said:
That generation wasn't weak. It was probably the 2nd strongest in history (only behind Foreman's). Foreman didn't really face most of the top strength of the division. Not to take away from his KO of Moorer, though. Moorer was never a great fighter and he wasn't one of the best of that era, but he did manage to beat Holyfield and he was the legitimate lineal champion of the time. Foreman coming back at his age and achieving that is exceptionally impressive.
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That isn't true. Moorer was dominant at cruiserweight but there is no money at the weight class so he moved up. He was destroying Foreman on points until he got lazy, thinking Foreman couldn't hurt him. If they had had a rematch, Moorer could play it safe and maybe shut Foreman out.
 
Prefect said:
That isn't true. Moorer was dominant at cruiserweight but there is no money at the weight class so he moved up. He was destroying Foreman on points until he got lazy, thinking Foreman couldn't hurt him. If they had had a rematch, Moorer could play it safe and maybe shut Foreman out.
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... What isn't true (you said something wasn't true and then just went on an aimless tangent about Moorer which doesn't run contrary to any point I made)? Moorer never fought at cruiserweight, first of all. He campaigned at LHW and looked good at the weight (though, he never really put together a great resume there before moving up to HW). He was dominant against the fighters he faced at LHW, but he didn't necessarily face the creme de la creme of the division. Had he been able to keep his weight down and stay at LHW, he may have been able to amass a great record. He ended up moving up to HW and put together some decent wins before facing Holyfield and surprisingly upsetting him. Then he got KO'd and was a middling HW for the rest of his career. Certainly not a great HW by any metric and, all in all, he didn't do enough to be considered a great fighter (if the term "great" is going to have any meaning).

Moorer was leading Foreman and on his way to a clear win. Then he got knocked out. It wasn't a complete and utter domination for Moorer up to that point, either. Foreman was clearly getting outboxed and outworked, but he was also getting in real shots throughout the fight and Foreman is one of the greatest punchers in history (and Moorer was never known for a strong chin). I'm not really sure what point you're trying to make with your post, though.
 
Niki Lauda - his head freakin melted

Ali - was tried for draft evasion. came back to beat (who many people thought unbeatable) George Foreman.
 
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