Holyfield: are there 10 better heavyweights?

[JAB5239]

All time, where do you rate Evander Holyfield amongst the all-time greats? One person believes he ranks between 17th and 19th all time. For the life of me I just can't see that. Resume, he fought and beat some excellent fighters, had some losses and was beaten in a few decisions that should have gone his way.

Prime, head to head, Holy could hang with the best in history. Didn't matter he was game and could box or brawl.

I'd have to dig up my heavyweight rankings, but I believe I have him around 8th or 9th. Where would you put him and why?

[GhostofDempsey]

He’s in my top ten. Competed with a lot of bigger men. Very skilled, he could box and he could brawl. Never backed up or backed down from a fight. Coming up from CW, he was a lot more impressive than Usyk IMO.

[louis54]

He’s in my top ten. Competed with a lot of bigger men. Very skilled, he could box and he could brawl. Never backed up or backed down from a fight. Coming up from CW, he was a lot more impressive than Usyk IMO.

Agreed... In top ten probably.. Warrior with skills

[BKM-]

I can't see 5 better HW's. I rank him very highly on resume but also on H2H. Fought everyone in an extremely good era and either beat or gave a good account of himself against all of them. Ducked no one, could do it all. Brawl with the toughest brawlers, box with the best boxers. Longevity, incredibly gifted physical talent and also one of the hardest workers ever.

I personally still believe he beat Lewis in the rematch(Majority of folks agree) and if he had gotten that win he'd be ranked higher by most. But it should be common to rank Evander very highly. He has wins over Bowe, Tyson, Foreman, Moorer, Mercer, Douglas, Holmes, Ruiz etc. 4 times champ, a record.

He did all of this after already becoming the best CW of all time.

[Dr. Z]

All time, where do you rate Evander Holyfield amongst the all-time greats? One person believes he ranks between 17th and 19th all time. For the life of me I just can't see that. Resume, he fought and beat some excellent fighters, had some losses and was beaten in a few decisions that should have gone his way.

Prime, head to head, Holy could hang with the best in history. Didn't matter he was game and could box or brawl.

I'd have to dig up my heavyweight rankings, but I believe I have him around 8th or 9th. Where would you put him and why?

Holyfield is tricky to rate. Rid**** Bowe beat him badly in the 1st fight and knocked him out in the third, he was outboxed by Moorer, and floored by Cooper. All of these events happened in his prime.

So he's 1-2 vs Bowe, and 1-1 vs Moorer. While he did beat post prison Mike Tyson, he also lost twice in my opinion to Lennox Lewis. His body transformation from 190 to 220 makes you wonder and he did have PED issues. He was also a tad dirty with his head and low blows.

During his later years he was stopped by James Toney

Outside the top ten for me.

[Noelanthony]

Best cruiserweight but top15 heavyweight. I still put Mike Tyson above him just because......

[BKM-]

Of course Tyson fanboys don't rate an obviously ATG HW like Evander. They've arrived in this thread. Look at dummy above. "I still put Mike Tyson above him just because......"

Right? Just because. LOL great arguments. Just because.

Rid**** Bowe beat him badly in the 1st fight and knocked him out in the third,

Evander was facing a major size disadvantage against a very unique HW(dubbed by Futch as the most talented HW he ever trained) so he made the mistake of brawling and staying inside against a 6'5 240lb 81inch reach superHW who could fight very well on the inside.

Still gave a great account of himself in the 1st match and even hurt Bowe multiple times, and when he decided to box and move in the 2nd fight he beat Bowe without any issues, proving he was the better fighter.

The 3rd Bowe fight and 1st Moorer fight were results of health issues mid-fight and wrong tactics.

he was outboxed by Moorer

Which he rectified in the rematch where he completely dismantled Moorer in a one sided destruction.

and floored by Cooper.

I love how you point this one out. Clay got floored by white Cooper, the great Joe Louis floored by many journeymen. What matters is getting up and winning, that 's what seperates the greats. Your boy Tyson never won a fight where he got dropped.

Lets also neglect to mention the rest of Evander's resume while you were at it because it's convenient. I mean, mentioning that Bert Cooper scored a knockdown on him is more important than mentioning wins against prime Mercer, Foreman, Douglas, being a 4 time hw champ etc.

[cfang]

Holyfield is definitely top ten and you could make a case for him anywhere from 3 to 10.

[thebrownbomber_]

Dude I rate Holyfield as #6 or #5

[Dr. Z]

Of course Tyson fanboys don't rate an obviously ATG HW like Evander. They've arrived in this thread. Look at dummy above. "I still put Mike Tyson above him just because......"

Right? Just because. LOL great arguments. Just because.



Evander was facing a major size disadvantage against a very unique HW(dubbed by Futch as the most talented HW he ever trained) so he made the mistake of brawling and staying inside against a 6'5 240lb 81inch reach superHW who could fight very well on the inside.

Still gave a great account of himself in the 1st match and even hurt Bowe multiple times, and when he decided to box and move in the 2nd fight he beat Bowe without any issues, proving he was the better fighter.

The 3rd Bowe fight and 1st Moorer fight were results of health issues mid-fight and wrong tactics.



Which he rectified in the rematch where he completely dismantled Moorer in a one sided destruction.



I love how you point this one out. Clay got floored by white Cooper, the great Joe Louis floored by many journeymen. What matters is getting up and winning, that 's what seperates the greats. Your boy Tyson never won a fight where he got dropped.

Lets also neglect to mention the rest of Evander's resume while you were at it because it's convenient. I mean, mentioning that Bert Cooper scored a knockdown on him is more important than mentioning wins against prime Mercer, Foreman, Douglas, being a 4 time hw champ etc.

I'm not a Tyson fan boy. ( Not saying you called me one ), but he's the meat on Holyfield's resume. The 80's Tyson was far better than the 90's version Holyfield beat. To work backwards, Douglas was a fat slob in that fight, Foreman was old, and Holmes also old, yet he cut Holyfield. The Mercer win was a good one, maybe one of his three best but come on, the WBO belt when Mercer held it was a joke.

Yeah, he was floored by Cooper and might have received some home cooking during the count.

Holyfield gave a great account of himself in the first Bowe fight? Only for taking a beating. The second fight to me was a draw and had 17 minute break at that allowed a sometimes gassed Holyfield to fight two 6 rounds fights. Only a Holyfield fan boy thinks he won the 2nd fight with Bowe by a big margin.

Health issues you mentioned. Yes. Too much steroids, I likely agree with you here, but they gave him the edge he needed to compete against bigger men. How would Holyfield look off steroids?

Holyfield should be 1-4 vs. Bowe and Lewis. Sure he avenged the defeat to Moorer. Did you know Moorer by that time had issues outside the ring?