90s or 70s which is the best heavyweight era

[LetOutTheCage]

no fella it was just his size that pretty much kept him competitive in his comeback......refused to step in the ring with Lewis and foreman’s victories were against small or limited heavies...moorer , Shultz etc.
The best heavyweight of the 70’s vs the best of the 90’ would be 50/50 with Ali vs Lewis ...bowe would beat most 70’ heavy and Holyfield would be a night mare for Frazier ......Tyson already destroyed Holmes before.
Prime for prime it’s a toss up

In some situations yes you will have 90's fighters beating 70's fighters but the opposite is also true.

Prime Foreman would beat all the heavyweights in the 90's he was just too powerful and had a solid chin as he showed when he came back. Old fat Foreman should have a win against Briggs and gave Holyfield all sorts of problems (rocked him badly) imagine a prime Foreman who is more explosive and relentless against Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis. Dont think any of these guys would survive the onslaught.

Then you have the version of Ali who beat Foreman...Its a shame we never got to see Prime Ali because I think that would have largely shut this question down.

It was 80's Tyson who destroyed Holmes (Holmes was 38 and well past his best) 90's Tyson while technically in his prime was no where near as good. For me 1970's heavyweights was by far the more exciting era, best fighting the best at the right time, with plenty of drama and for me the standard of heavyweights was simply higher

[techliam]

70s for me, but I don’t think there’s a lot in it

Does it make anyone else feel a bit sad. The state of the division today is truly pathetic.

At the very least, the Klitschko era had 2 dominant champions who beat anyone worth talking about at the time

The only fighter now worth talking about is Fury, but his drug testing really puts me off

[*Makaveli*]

I disagree, Tyson could have beaten Lewis before he got with Manny but he would have never beat Holyfield in my opinion. I remember watching Holyfield when he moved to HW and thought this guy will beat Tyson pillar to post.

There's every chance Holyfield would have beaten him in his prime but there's also a good chance Tyson would have KO'd him.

[The plunger man]

In some situations yes you will have 90's fighters beating 70's fighters but the opposite is also true.

Prime Foreman would beat all the heavyweights in the 90's he was just too powerful and had a solid chin as he showed when he came back. Old fat Foreman should have a win against Briggs and gave Holyfield all sorts of problems (rocked him badly) imagine a prime Foreman who is more explosive and relentless against Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis. Dont think any of these guys would survive the onslaught.

Then you have the version of Ali who beat Foreman...Its a shame we never got to see Prime Ali because I think that would have largely shut this question down.

It was 80's Tyson who destroyed Holmes (Holmes was 38 and well past his best) 90's Tyson while technically in his prime was no where near as good. For me 1970's heavyweights was by far the more exciting era, best fighting the best at the right time, with plenty of drama and for me the standard of heavyweights was simply higher

Lewis would have worn out foreman and finished him inside the distance ...to refined and to clever ....now I’ve seen the foreman Holyfield quite a few times ...what round did he seriously hurt Holyfield because I never saw it..all I saw was Holyfield hit him with 25 unanswered hooks and have him on ***** Street...we keep on about Ali’s great fights ..but what about Doug Jones , Jerry quarry , joe bugner it’s what we call selective memory...Lewis would give hell to any heavyweight in history and with the possible exception of Ali he beats them all....”Lewis on his day in my opinion is the best heavyweight in history...please foreman was crude and limited and would be dissected by Lewis.

[LetOutTheCage]

Lewis would have worn out foreman and finished him inside the distance ...to refined and to clever ....now I’ve seen the foreman Holyfield quite a few times ...what round did he seriously hurt Holyfield because I never saw it..all I saw was Holyfield his with 25 unanswered hooks and have him on ***** Street...we keep on about Ali’s great fights fights ..what about Doug Jones , Jerry quarry , joe bugner it’s what we call selective memory...Lewis would give hell to any heavyweight in history and with the possible exception of Ali he beats them all....”Lewis on his day in my opinion is the best heavyweight in history...please foreman was crude and limited and would be dissected by Lewis.

The only person who finished prime Foreman was Ali and that was at a great risk, Lewis would have tried to maintain the centre of the ring (something he wouldnt have been able to do). Sure you could say he was crude/limited from a technical standpoint...He was also a bull who hit harder than anyone Lewis fought and had a solid chin. McCall and Rahman where no Foreman and they were able to KO Lewis. Personally I think Lewis is unbelievably overrated on here, hes a great fighter but certainly not the best heavyweight champion in my eyes.

You mentioned some of the guys Ali fought, what about the level of opposition Lewis fought in the 90's? Its not just high level opponents (no disrespect to them)

[New England]

How should we rate Tyson as a 90s fighter when his peak/prime was technically all in the 80s?

you can make the same argument for ali, his prime was prior to his layoff for refusing to be drafted.

[New England]

different eras.

have you guys watched a lot of 15 round fights? it is an entirely different sport!

90's HW were more bruising and bigger guys. lifted weights. got on the *cough* program. 70's HW ran more, had greater capacity to weather storms. many of them could get light on their feet if they needed to. fought more rounds generally, had more experience and more tricks.


two of the best eras in any weight for talent, drawing power, and great fights. if yu had to make me pick id say the 70's. ali was there.

[MartialMind]

you can make the same argument for ali, his prime was prior to his layoff for refusing to be drafted.

Ali had some of the most notable victories of his career in the 70s, as I mentioned before Tyson had big fights where he lost in the 90s.

When you look at 70s Ali specifically you see the Rumble in the Jungle, you see him defeating Frazier and Norton.

What were the defining moments of Tyson's 90s years that wasn't a big loss?

[The plunger man]

The only person who finished prime Foreman was Ali and that was at a great risk, Lewis would have tried to maintain the centre of the ring (something he wouldnt have been able to do). Sure you could say he was crude/limited from a technical standpoint...He was also a bull who hit harder than anyone Lewis fought and had a solid chin. McCall and Rahman where no Foreman and they were able to KO Lewis. Personally I think Lewis is unbelievably overrated on here, hes a great fighter but certainly not the best heavyweight champion in my eyes.

You mentioned some of the guys Ali fought, what about the level of opposition Lewis fought in the 90's? Its not just high level opponents (no disrespect to them)

Lewis would have kept him at bay till he took the steam out of him and then finished him....foreman was 230lb and lewis was 245lb so I don’t very much foreman would bull Lewis, foreman even said himself he would never beat Lewis and he himself classes Lewis as the best heavyweight ever.
Lewis as I said before is aruguably along with Ali the best heavyweight ever and his resume also backs that up.
Yeah he lost twice but he avenged them defeats with KO ‘s and equalled Ali in winning the title 3 times and retired as undisputed champ.......Tyson, Holyfield, v klitchcko , Morrison , ruddock , mercer , tua , Briggs ,weaver and bowe in the olympics.
If you don’t rate Lewis that’s because your personal de-taste for him because his achievement are second to none

[LetOutTheCage]

Lewis would have kept him at bay till he took the steam out of him and then finished him....foreman was 230lb and lewis was 245lb so I don’t very much foreman would bull Lewis, foreman even said himself he would never beat Lewis and he himself classes Lewis as the best heavyweight ever.
Lewis as I said before is aruguably along with Ali the best heavyweight ever and his resume also backs that up.
Yeah he lost twice but he avenged them defeats with KO ‘s and equalled Ali in winning the title 3 times and retired as undisputed champ.......Tyson, Holyfield, v klitchcko , Morrison , ruddock , mercer , tua , Briggs ,weaver and bowe in the olympics.
If you don’t rate Lewis that’s because your personal de-taste for him because his achievement are second to none

Err I didnt say I dont rate him, he was a good fighter, I said he was overrated, that's not the same thing...This is going no where. I disagree fundamentally with a lot of what you said and it's clear you feel the same way about what I have said so far