Who's the best heavy weight since Larry Holmes?

I'd say it's either Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis. wait, you've included Vitali and Wlad and not Holyfield? LOL Holyfield is the best, Lewis may be a close second though.

please no more mention of the lance armstrong of boxing. Allegations of steroid and HGH use On February 28, 2007, Holyfield was anonymously linked to Applied Pharmacy Services, a pharmacy in Alabama that is currently under investigation for supplying athletes with illegal steroids and human growth hormone (HGH). He denies ever using performance enhancers. Holyfield's name does not appear in the law enforcement documents reviewed. However, a patient by the name of "Evan Fields" caught investigators' attention. "Fields" shares the same birth date as Holyfield—October 19, 1962. The listed address for "Fields" was 794 Evander, Fairfield, Ga. 30213. Holyfield has a very similar address. When the phone number that, according to the documents, was associated with the "Fields" prescription, was dialed, Holyfield answered. On March 10, 2007 Holyfield made a public announcement that he would be pursuing his own investigation into the steroid claims in order to clear his name. Holyfield was again linked

ppl love evander holyfield because he put on some good fights. but the dude was a cheater and whiner. every damn loss or bad performance "i popped my ear drum in camp", "i had a bad shoulder", "i caught hepatitis" blah blah blah

BTW, In legendary nights Bowe vs Holyfield, i remember Eddie Futch say that the most talented fighter hed ever worked with, was Riddick Bowe! riddick was a super heavyweight with power, skills and chin who was an excellent inside fighter (rare for a tall super hvy) only thing wrong with bowe was he became shopworn fast. a few tough fights and he was shot. some guys are like that.

Holyfields resume, combined with he fact he was outsized the majority of the time, needs to carry weight in this discussion roids, hgh also need to be part of the discussion when it comes to MR. "EVAN FIELDS" the only enhancer david tua took was topping his apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

BTW, In legendary nights Bowe vs Holyfield, i remember Eddie Futch say that the most talented fighter hed ever worked with, was Riddick Bowe!

Mike Tyson at he's peak is better then Lewis, though Lewis was a very talented fighter. I think Tysons tremendous defence, movement and punching power is just outstanding.

You ever see the video of Tua and Holyfield sparring to get Holyfield ready for his first fight with Tyson? Good stuff! I give Tua some of the credit for Evander's victory. tua did very well against holyfield in the gym. coincidence holyfield pretty much fought everyone except tua? even though tua was a top heavy for a long time? holyfield's ppl knew what's up.

I strongly feel Holyfield should be on the list, and he'd be a clear favourite also. But of the ones mentioned, I voted Lewis, obviously.

david tua beats mike tyson head to head. late tko. tyson has the speed and skills advantage but tua's intangibles of better chin, tougher, late fight stamina wins out in the end.

Mike Tyson in his prime was the best IMO. Though longevity/career wise he wasn't since his meteor burned out early. But not talking about longevity, I think the best boxer in prime Tyson.

How Good Was/Is Mike Tyson? By Frank Scoblete 30 January 2000* Now that Mike Tyson's career is almost over, it might be of interest to take a cold hard look at just how good he was at his best to get some idea of where he stands in the rankings of the great heavyweight champions. It is not a stretch to say that much of the fearsome Tyson persona of a decade or more ago was media hype and was little related to what he actually accomplished in the ring or against whom he accomplished it. We can make a case that Tyson fought "never-wases" and "nothing-lefters" in his early career culminating with his knockout over an intimidated former light-heavyweight champion Michael Spinks, whose only real claim to fame was "winning" two controversial decisions against an aging and distracted Larry Holmes. Other than the light-hitting, terrified Spinks and the out-of-shape, intimidated, comebacking, former great Larry Holmes, who did Tyson actually fight in his pre-prison days who was truly any good in absolute terms? If we measure competition based on who Ali faced, then who of all Tyson's pre-prison opponents was as good as Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, Ernie Shavers, Joe Bugner, Mac Foster, Floyd Patterson, Zora Foley, Cleveland Williams, Jimmy Ellis, Bob Foster or Ernie Terrell, not to mention the awesome likes of all-time greats Sonny Liston, George Foreman or Smokin' Joe Frazier? Would you classify Bonecrusher Smith, Tony Tucker, Trevor Berbick or Frank Bruno with any those other fighters? Only if you never saw them fight!* The only*real*fight the pre-prison Tyson ever had was against the only decent heavyweight fighter he fought, a determined, well-conditioned Buster Douglas -- and Tyson was roundly beaten, battered and knocked out! That was Tyson in his prime, against a fighter who went on to "extinguish" himself by being knocked out in three rounds by Evander Holyfield. If the pre-prison Tyson's boxing worth must be looked at with some skepticism, then the post-prison Tyson must be looked upon with scorn. Often in boxing, the true greatness of a fighter is not actually known when he is in his prime as he defeats opponent after opponent rather convincingly. It is only after he ages, slows down, and gets himself into wars are we aware of just how good the fighter is -- and was!* Certainly that was true of Ali. Before he made his comeback from an almost four-year forced layoff, there were all sorts of questions about his ability. Could he take a punch? Had he been beating up washed-up fighters? Did he have courage? Would he dog it if he were ever in a real fight? The layoff slowed Ali down, made him more vulnerable. What's more, great fighters appeared in that time, fighters better than any he had previously fought!* So a somewhat diminished Ali met each and every challenger -- starting with a comeback fight against highly ranked Jerry Quarry and then a second fight against vicious number-one contender Oscar Bonavena. His first career loss to Joe Frazier in his third comeback fight proved he could take a punch and that he had mountains of courage. That fight was the first of several "wars" Ali would fight in this second part of his career.* His next loss was to Ken Norton. Fighting 11 rounds with a broken jaw, Ali merely proved again that he was as courageous as any fighter who ever lived. His great victories against these very same fighters and his upset win over the god-like Foreman, showed what a great fighter he was -- and how much greater he had been*before*his layoff! Not so with Tyson. His "layoff" was heralded with a return to the ring against a rank amateur, Peter McNeeley, whom Tyson "destroyed" with a wild flurry in round one. This same McNeeley was later knocked out by the bloated Butterbean in one round and has since lost just about every real fight he's had! And what of Buster Mathis, Jr., Bruce "I was knocked out by a gust of air" Seldon, Francois Botha, or Julian Francis? Are they credible opponents? Only if elephants can fly. The only real fight the post-prison Tyson had of any significance was against Evander Holyfield, who was selected because he appeared to be a shot fighter, having lost two out of three to the disappointing Riddick Bowe. Had Tyson known that Holyfield was not a shot fighter, but actually the only great heavyweight of the 1990s, I'm sure he would have selected a different fighter to beat, perhaps a third go-round with the overrated Razor Ruddock who proved himself a worthy Tyson contender by being knocked out in one round by the otherwise cautious Lennox Lewis. So here we have a very simple yardstick for measuring the greatness of Mike Tyson. He fought two hard fights, one pre-prison and one post-prison -- both of which he lost (subsequently, he ate his way to a third loss and fouled himself into a no-decision). The rest of his victories, pre-prison and post-prison, were over fighters who couldn't make the "C" list during Ali's tenure. So where does that put him on the list of all-time greats?* It doesn't. He doesn't belong. He's not even in the top 20! If you think of the very few good heavyweight fighters who have plied their trade in the late 1980s and 1990s, it is a short list: Evander Holyfield, George Foreman (oh, yes, the Big George who fought Holyfield would have rocked Iron Mike just as he did Smokin' Joe), Riddick Bowe, and maybe Lennox Lewis and Michael Moorer. Tyson only fought one of them, and lost. The others he avoided. I do not, as some writers do, lament the fact that Mike Tyson never lived up to his potential. In fact, I believe he did live up to it, fully, completely. His potential just wasn't all that great and that's what he became -- not all that great.

It's Lewis. It's not even close. He beat everyone else on that list except Wlad, and that's only because they never fought. If they did, I'm sure Lewis would have won

It is safe to say that Vladimir is about to surpass Lennox.

Wlad or Lennox...

You ever see the video of Tua and Holyfield sparring to get Holyfield ready for his first fight with Tyson? Good stuff! I give Tua some of the credit for Evander's victory.

Tyson himself said his best win was Frank Bruno, that says it all.

Can Wlad catch Lewis? Not imo. Holyfield should have been added to the poll.

I'd say it's either Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis. WTF!!!!???? no Holyfield???? GTFO!!!!