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

[NChristo]

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!

Was going to say Liston as well but thought I'd stick to the ones mentioned in the op, Bowe definitely had the ability of a great but his short prime and resume just doesn't pull through for him unfortunately.

[jrosales13]

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.

I agree with that statement. Especially since I personally rank all 3 ahead of Tyson.

[Sugarj]

Was going to say Liston as well but thought I'd stick to the ones mentioned in the op, Bowe definitely had the ability of a great but his short prime and resume just doesn't pull through for him unfortunately.

Yea, its a shame about Bowe because in a prime for prime/head to head sense the man would give even the best champions in history plenty to think about I'm sure. Still its hard to argue with all three performances against Holyfield, even in fight 2......(which he lost by the slimmest margin) he was a pretty impressive force.

[Tyson.]

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.

Im not denying that Holmes, Lewis and Holyfield had good carrears. They just didnt achieve enough to be regarded as truly great like Tyson, Ali and Foreman.

Noone of Holmes, Lewis or Holyfield were close to unbeatable in their prime. The likes of Tyson, Ali and Foreman had that aura about them.

Like I said earlier what is a prime Holmes? The guy could easily have lost to Witherspoon and Norton but got gift decisons, was almost KOed by Shavers. Holyfield has a good resume but how consistent was he? For every great win theres a loss not too long away. Lewis was always vulnerable to a KO, he didnt just lose but got KTFO by Mccall and Rahman.

If you want to call those three fighters as great there needs to be a higher category for the likes of Tyson, Ali and Foreman.

[NChristo]

Im not denying that Holmes, Lewis and Holyfield had good carrears. They just didnt achieve enough to be regarded as truly great like Tyson, Ali and Foreman.

Noone of Holmes, Lewis or Holyfield were close to unbeatable in their prime. The likes of Tyson, Ali and Foreman had that aura about them.

Like I said earlier what is a prime Holmes? The guy could easily have lost to Witherspoon and Norton but got gift decisons, was almost KOed by Shavers. Holyfield has a good resume but how consistent was he? For every great win theres a loss not too long away. Lewis was always vulnerable to a KO, he didnt just lose but got KTFO by Mccall and Rahman.

If you want to call those three fighters as great there needs to be a higher category for the likes of Tyson, Ali and Foreman.

Like I said Holmes had close fights with Witherspoon and Norton, they was not gifts at all. Getting knocked down by a huge right hand from arguably the hardest hitting heavyweight ever, getting back up, recuperating quickly and going on to win is more of a testament to Holmes' heart and chin then anything else.

Holyfield wasn't the most consistent but that was only later on in his career, early the only people he lost to were decent boxers like Moorer and Bowe, Tyson in his comeback wasn't the most consistent of people either, some double standards here.

Is that all you have against Lewis ?, true his chin had a question mark on it but those 2 KO losses were his only losses and he avenged both of them in good fashion.

[Barn]

Wlad is more dominant than Tyson ever was. Thats just a fact. Right now Wlad Klitschko is the most dominant HW in the last 50 years. Doesnt lose rounds, KO's almost all of his opponents, never in trouble defends against top 10 guys, fights 3x a year and will fight anyone.

Better than Ali and Foreman... that's just uh, "madness".
A case could be made for Tyson but, I think it's still a longshot.

[Sugarj]

Im not denying that Holmes, Lewis and Holyfield had good carrears. They just didnt achieve enough to be regarded as truly great like Tyson, Ali and Foreman.

Noone of Holmes, Lewis or Holyfield were close to unbeatable in their prime. The likes of Tyson, Ali and Foreman had that aura about them.

Like I said earlier what is a prime Holmes? The guy could easily have lost to Witherspoon and Norton but got gift decisons, was almost KOed by Shavers. Holyfield has a good resume but how consistent was he? For every great win theres a loss not too long away. Lewis was always vulnerable to a KO, he didnt just lose but got KTFO by Mccall and Rahman.

If you want to call those three fighters as great there needs to be a higher category for the likes of Tyson, Ali and Foreman.

The problem was, at least in Foreman and Tyson's case, the 'aura' of invincibility was just that.........an 'aura'. As you will I'm sure know, they both got (not just beat) but knocked out, whilst they were in this midst of publically perceived superiority.

Tyson's aura lasted 4 years, Foreman's 2 years. Is Holmes's seven year reign not more impressive? 'Almost' knocked out by Shavers doesn't matter when Foreman was 'almost' knocked out by Lyle and actually knocked out by Ali. Or Tyson actually knocked out by Douglas.

Ok, Holmes had a few close decision wins. Norton, Witherspoon, Williams were close 'ish' but not really disputable. Foreman of course, had a close decision loss to Young.

Liston was another who was perceived as unbeatable in the last 50 years. Only Ali really stands out.

I think all these guys are potential top 10 heavyweight all time greats. I'm only demonstrating that, really........there isn't too much to separate them.

[wmute]

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

\end thread

[SBleeder]

Holmes, Liston, Frazier, Holyfield, Lewis are all > Tyson. All have better resumes, and all were more skilled at their best than Tyson at his best. I'd put Tyson as the 7th best heavyweight in the last 50 years.

How is Ali more dominant than Wlad. Struggled mightily at times with even sub par opponents. Never put a streak of consistent top 10 wins together like Wlad has. Wlad will fight anyone. Im not saying Ali wouldnt, but we all know Tyson didnt.

Purrity, Sanders, and Brewster wouldn't even have been considered "sub-par" in Ali's day. They'd have had to train hard to be known as "sub-sub-par".

[MARKBNLV]

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.

Holmes Holyfield and Lewis were all better fighters then Mike Tyson.