Foreman knows a thing or two about heavyweight boxing. He fought across four decades and became the oldest heavyweight champion ever at 45 years old. He took a long break in the seventies but came back in the late eighties for another run at the top.
As Foreman was making his comeback and heading towards retirement, he watched Lewis's career unfold. Lewis built up an undefeated record early on, lost just twice, and then avenged both defeats. He beat Hasim Rahman in an immediate rematch and also defeated Evander Holyfield.
Foreman was so impressed by Lewis that he put him in the same league as some of boxing's all-time greats. He said:
"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. Now you can put Lennox Lewis in that mix. He's in there with the all-time heavyweight champions of the world. Recovered the title, did it in a devastating manner. He's beating everybody, even Evander Holyfield. He became a three-time world champion and he beat a three-time champion along the way."
Foreman didn't stop there. He went on to say:
"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."
Lewis, for his part, is more modest. He considers both Foreman and Muhammad Ali to be up there with him as the greatest heavyweights.