Who is the best Heavyweight of the past 30 years?

[The_Golden_Goy]

hes completely right guys isnt a cut.

because its a ****ing gaping hole that you could probably lift up a flap of skin and tissue and see his eyeball rolling around inside. Vitali might wanted to have continued but can you imagine what his eye wouldve looked like barely 3 rounds later?

I mean wow, you'd be talking serious scar tissue and at least partial blindness.

[Jedi Vader]

hes completely right guys isnt a cut.

because its a ****ing gaping hole that you could probably lift up a flap of skin and tissue and see his eyeball rolling around inside. Vitali might wanted to have continued but can you imagine what his eye wouldve looked like barely 3 rounds later?

I mean wow, you'd be talking serious scar tissue and at least partial blindness.

I'm in total agreement.

[Alx.]

bowe is underrated

[Joeyzagz]

All these Lewis fans would be voting Vitali if he hadn't sustained that cut opened up from an illegal shot? Lewis also chickened out of a rematch and as a consequence doesn't deserve the respect he gets.

The only illegal shot in that entire fight was when Vitali tried to kick Lennox in the balls. Face it, Vitali was beaten by a fat, semi-retired boxer. Vit could barely speak in the post fight interview because of all the blood gushing from INSIDE his mouth.

[The_Golden_Goy]

I'm in total agreement.

exactly man, i mean theres something to admire in Vitali being a warrior and wanting to continue, thats why alot of people respect the guy. But would we be talking about him in such a high regard if he'd sustained serious eye injury and had to retire?

A few more rounds and Vitali possibly wouldnt have made it to where he is today as a future HOF, because he would never have fought again. Thats purely from a medical injury standpoint. That fight had to end there and then, and regardless of the scorecards Lewis did that Vitali and the fight was stopped, for Vitali's sake, not for Lewis'

[-Lowkey-]

Lewis is No1 in that list.

Oh and regarding the Bowe ducking Lewis check this.

[Jedi Vader]

exactly man, i mean theres something to admire in Vitali being a warrior and wanting to continue, thats why alot of people respect the guy. But would we be talking about him in such a high regard if he'd sustained serious eye injury and had to retire?

A few more rounds and Vitali possibly wouldnt have made it to where he is today as a future HOF, because he would never have fought again. Thats purely from a medical injury standpoint. That fight had to end there and then, and regardless of the scorecards Lewis did that Vitali and the fight was stopped, for Vitali's sake, not for Lewis'

Exactly.

The Klit lickers will never accept that an old, fat and poorly conditioned Lewis destroyed a primed Vitali (and his face) in 6 rounds.

FACT

[paulf]

These threads are difficult because, being from different eras, these guys had access to very different levels of opposition and opportunities.

Take Larry Holmes for example.

Remember that people considered HW boxing dead by the time Holmes took over and during his reign (sound familiar?). But the man fought everyone. He won the title in a classic fight, bested Witherspoon and Berbick before they became champs, fought virtually everyone in the division worth a **** outside of maybe Pinklon Thomas, and years after losing to Tyson he came out and beat Ray Mercer. So what if he beat Ali and insulted Rocky Marciano?

To me, he's probably the best of the past 30. But that's not really fair.

I mean, some people might pick Vitali to beat him in a fantasy fight, but how can we know? Look at the guys Vitali has faced since his comeback; Peter, Gomez, Arreola, Johnson, Sosnowski, Briggs, and Solis. In terms of competition it's almost comical, but what else can he do but continue to fight 2-3 times a year and rack up the wins, hoping that eventually he'll get the respect down the road.

Worked for Larry Holmes.

[CubanGuyNYC]

hes completely right guys isnt a cut.

because its a ****ing gaping hole that you could probably lift up a flap of skin and tissue and see his eyeball rolling around inside. Vitali might wanted to have continued but can you imagine what his eye wouldve looked like barely 3 rounds later?

I mean wow, you'd be talking serious scar tissue and at least partial blindness.

I had an exchange with another poster about this very thing a few months ago. He claimed that the cuts weren't bad, but went on to describe how Vitali was interviewed sometime later and showed how well the cuts had healed...after having them repaired by a plastic surgeon. I still don't get how a cut can be "minor" but need the attention of a cosmetic surgeon....

[hweightblogger]

What they accomplished within their era defines best when comparing multiple eras, IMO.

Don't invent things. THE WORD "ERA" wasn't even mentioned.

So you are the best example of how flawed this poll is and how correct my objection was.

ADDITIONALLY you don't seem to have understood what I was complaining about: EVEN IF the TS had mentioned "eras" it's still unclear whether he meant p4p, h2h, r4r or z4z.

All 4 types can lead to utterly different result.

p4p may have holyfield #1 but h2h he might be #7.

The TS didn't specify what he means, thus this poll is unanswerable.