Tyson, Ali and Foreman are the only truly great heavyweights of the last 50 years.

[Tyson.]

People make out that the Klitschkos aren't great fighters but that is no way an insult to them. As really there have only been 3 great heavyweight champions in the past 50 years.

Tyson- Youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
Ali- Unbeatable in his prime, GOAT
Foreman- Oldest heavyweight champion of all time.

The likes of Frazier, Holmes, Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis are good fighters but are way behind those 3 mentioned above.

[VibesMan]

People make out that the Klitschkos aren't great fighters but that is no way an insult to them. As really there have only been 3 great heavyweight champions in the past 50 years.

Tyson- Youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
Ali- Unbeatable in his prime, GOAT
Foreman- Oldest heavyweight champion of all time.

The likes of Frazier, Holmes, Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis are good fighters but are way behind those 3 mentioned above.

How you work that out?

You'll get no dispute here that he's the best heavy in history, but unbeatable in his prime???

Did Frazier not beat him? Don't pull out "he wasn't prime". The guy goes on to beat Frazier, Foreman et al afterwards so please don't tell me he was that far gone in the first Frazier fight.

[Tyson.]

How you work that out?

You'll get no dispute here that he's the best heavy in history, but unbeatable in his prime???

Did Frazier not beat him? Don't pull out "he wasn't prime". The guy goes on to beat Frazier, Foreman et al afterwards so please don't tell me he was that far gone in the first Frazier fight.

Ringside observers had Ali winning the fight.

And Ali wasnt prime, he was clearly not the same fighter and had stamina issues the fact he went onto do all that while past prime is why he is the GOAT. Frazier never won a fight against Ali he received a gift decison in the first thats it. Lets not forget that Ali is a perfect style matchup for him, what did he do when forced out of his comfort zone against Foreman? he got destroyed.

[NChristo]

How you work that out?

You'll get no dispute here that he's the best heavy in history, but unbeatable in his prime???

Did Frazier not beat him? Don't pull out "he wasn't prime". The guy goes on to beat Frazier, Foreman et al afterwards so please don't tell me he was that far gone in the first Frazier fight.

He wasn't in his prime, you can tell the his reflexes weren't what they used to be, but I'd still give Frazier a shot at him in his prime as well as Kenny Norton, no one is unbeatable.

Holyfield, Lewis and Holmes are all great, why don't you think they are Mayweather_ ?.

[VibesMan]

Ringside observers had Ali winning the fight.

And Ali wasnt prime, he was clearly not the same fighter and had stamina issues the fact he went onto do all that while past prime is why he is the GOAT. Frazier never won a fight against Ali he received a gift decison in the first thats it. Lets not forget that Ali is a perfect style matchup for him, what did he do when forced out of his comfort zone against Foreman? he got destroyed.

Yes IMO he is the GOAT in terms of heavys. You sound ridiculous in basically saying any defeat post Frazier in effect doesn't count as he was post prime. Post prime fighters don't do what Ali did. The guy is a great and he did what most fighters never do. He adapted past what made him great in his physical prime and thats why he kept winning.

Frazier won the fight. It was not a gift decision by any stretch of the imagination.

Whilst I'm at it. Some accomplishments by themselves don't determine if you're an ATG or not.

Tyson is an ATG IMO due to the way he cleaned out his division, his ferocousness, his physical skills etc.

Beating Berbick whether your 15 or 19 certainly don't make you an ATG.

[Tyson.]

He wasn't in his prime, you can tell the his reflexes weren't what they used to be, but I'd still give Frazier a shot at him in his prime as well as Kenny Norton, no one is unbeatable.

Holyfield, Lewis and Holmes are all great, why don't you think they are Mayweather_ ?.

Great is used too much for boxers who dont deserve it.

Holyfield, Lewis and Holmes are amongst the best heavyweights of all time. Its just they are way below the great heavyweights.

Holmes has an inflated record. Witherspoon and Norton beat him as well as him almost getting KOed by Shavers. He fought in a poor era and was lucky to do as well as he did. In a better era he wouldnt have fared that well.

Holyfield is great based on what he did at crusierweight but at heavyweight he was inconsistent. Lewis was Koed by Mccall and rehmann, it doesnt matter that he avenged these defeats, the fact is how can you be a great heavyweight if you lose to these kind of fighters.

What the likes of Louis and Ali achieved is way above what holmes,lewis or holyfield did.

[nachorjj]

People make out that the Klitschkos aren't great fighters but that is no way an insult to them. As really there have only been 3 great heavyweight champions in the past 50 years.

Tyson- Youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
Ali- Unbeatable in his prime, GOAT
Foreman- Oldest heavyweight champion of all time.

The likes of Frazier, Holmes, Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis are good fighters but are way behind those 3 mentioned above.

Good post I agree

[mrboxer]

People make out that the Klitschkos aren't great fighters but that is no way an insult to them. As really there have only been 3 great heavyweight champions in the past 50 years.

Tyson- Youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
Ali- Unbeatable in his prime, GOAT
Foreman- Oldest heavyweight champion of all time.

The likes of Frazier, Holmes, Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis are good fighters but are way behind those 3 mentioned above.

i would have holyfield with tyson and foreman instead of ali,and they are the top in the history of the division

[NChristo]

Great is used too much for boxers who dont deserve it.

Holyfield, Lewis and Holmes are amongst the best heavyweights of all time. Its just they are way below the great heavyweights.

Holmes has an inflated record. Witherspoon and Norton beat him as well as him almost getting KOed by Shavers. He fought in a poor era and was lucky to do as well as he did. In a better era he wouldnt have fared that well.

Holyfield is great based on what he did at crusierweight but at heavyweight he was inconsistent. Lewis was Koed by Mccall and rehmann, it doesnt matter that he avenged these defeats, the fact is how can you be a great heavyweight if you lose to these kind of fighters.

What the likes of Louis and Ali achieved is way above what holmes,lewis or holyfield did.

Holmes dominated his division and has some great wins post prime, Witherspoon and Norton did not beat him at all, they was close fights against fighters who's style was manufactured to take apart people like Holmes but he still came out with the win and taking that huge right from Shavers and then standing up and carrying on the fight to win it just goes to show what a chin and how much heart Holmes had, most other boxers would of been out cold after such a huge punch. He made 20 title defenses which is second only to the great Joe Louis.

Holyfield came up from Cruiser as the smaller man and again has great wins against Rid**** Bowe, Tyson, Holmes (As noted above he was post prime but still went on to have some good wins), Foreman (Same with Holmes, way past prime but went on to do big things), Moorer, Buster Douglas just after he KO'd Tyson and others, he even should of regained the title against Valuev at the age of 45 but was robbed of a decision.

Lewis beat most of the best boxers from the era including retiring champion after beating a prime Vitali Klitschko.

If Tyson is great then these boxers should be called great as well.

[Sugarj]

Liston, Frazier, Holmes, Holyfield, Lewis......(even Bowe now and again!) regularly make many fans/historians' top ten in heavyweight terms. Very few knowledgeable historians would have them lower than top 20, which considering the sports heritage is a terrific achievement. They all were champions in the last 50 years.

If these guys aren't therefore 'great', I despair!

The above are legends!