George Foreman once named the heavyweight fighter that had surpassed the achievements of the legendary Muhammad Ali.

Foreman knew first hand what it was like to share the ring with Ali, having come up short in their iconic ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ meeting back in October 1974.

‘Big George’ would go on to compete for another 20 years after that encounter, becoming the oldest world heavyweight champion in history during the 1990s, and it is another fighter from that era that he deemed to be the best of all time.

While Ali may have been a three-time world heavyweight champion, Foreman claimed that fellow three-time world champion Lennox Lewis is the greatest heavyweight ever.

“There was a time when we used to talk about Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali. and very seldom another name would come in there.

“There’s nobody in the world that can take that from Lennox Lewis now. There’s no doubt that he’s the best heavyweight of all time. What he’s done clearly puts him on top of the heap.

“He’s in there with the all-time heavyweight champions of the world. Recovered the title, did it in a devastating manner. He’s beat everybody, even Evander Holyfield. He became a three-time world champion and he beat a three-time champion along the way.”

Lewis defeated every man he ever came up against, beating the likes of Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko, whilst also avenging losses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman.

A fight between Foreman and Lewis never took place, but former Lewis rival Frank Bruno once predicted how he thought the fight would have gone.