Pretty much any, especially in the first half of the decade. Lewis, Holyfield and Bowe were better than them from 1990-95, plus Tyson before he got banged up.
Dokes got the fight because he accepted the deal Lennox refused, which was about $3m. IIRC Lewis also refused to fight on the undercard as an eliminator. Mercer was being lined up as Bowe's 2nd defence & fought Ferguson on the undercard of Bowe-Dokes. Ferguson beat him soundly to get the fight with Bowe :good Lewis-Bowe was scheduled in 94 for the WBC title, after Bowe lost to Holy but Lewis got knocked out by McCall.
I think the 90's had the best depth of talent ever in the HW division. Lewis, Bowe, Holy & Tyson Mercer, McCall, Moorer, Morrison, Tua, Ibeabuchi, Rahman & Ruddock Plus old Foreman & old Holmes.
Very well explained, I never made the connection between the Mercer-Ferguson bout and Ferguson getting the fight with Bowe. And yes, quality era.
Ruddock was deffo a tough seasoned big man, it wasnt the left hook it was more of left hybrid left hook - left uppercut. Wlad best opponents are- C. Byrd 6'0 213 pounds Ibragimov 6'1 220 pounds R. Chagaev 6'1 225 pounds D. Haye 6'2 1/2 210 pounds Only one from the above can bang like Razor so when you put 6'3 1/2 240 pounds into the mix with razor speed and athleticism...would be, a, very difficult fight for Wlad. Wlad is the better boxer, Razor the better fighter.
Holyfield did have them but no one MADE Holyfield where as the others are heavily linked with the fighters and their moves and style.
Haye is a big puncher, his absolete strength isnt there though, hence why he was getting Bullied by Ruiz at points...even though he was a much faster and more powerful puncher. Of course where Haye is in the grand scheme of things in terms of punchers...is up to debate, but no one is saying he is a top ten puncher...not when guys like- Liston Shavers Foreman (freaky power) Tyson Lyle Frazier (left hook was amazing) Morrison Ruddock Witherspoon Bruno Tua Both Klitshckos C. Sanders Rahman Bowe Ike Probably a good 20 more...cant think at the mo I havent included anyone pre Liston dominance....but great punchers before then.
Razor would be second best i reckon, just behind Wlad. Vitali is there for the taking as mad as it sounds...
i hate negative hole picking...but Adamek performances were not great he looked average and Solis could have won the fight if his knee didnt go. Still prime vitali was arkward, tough, quick and punched in high volumes.
I wouldn't say Wladimir is average. He just does what he has to do in order to beat the fighters that he comes up against. Agree with Flea that Haye isn't anywhere near the top in terms of raw punching power. If he'd kept active and developed his technique from what he showed at cruiser he could have had a really good run at HW in this era. Shame really.
It's probably fair to say Pernell picked up Benton's style more. But Evander would've been ****ed quite a few times without George's advice, no doubt.