Who should rate higher Tyson or Holyfield?

Tyson was boxing in the late 80s. The most awe-inspiring explosive fighter the world had seen in decades. He was the light that burned twice as bright but half as long. Holy had greater longevity and a ton of great fights. He was toughness personified. BUT, a lot of folks wonder about whether he had additional help to beat Tyson and others. Plus, one cannot underestimate the effect on the body of 4 years or so of rust. Clearly, post-prison, Tyson was not what he once was. You are never the same again after such a long layoff. So what happens if they fought in '91 is speculation for the ages and we will never know. Comparing them is a matter of criteria. Both were wonderful fighters and had tremendous impacts on the sport and fans in their own ways.

 

though holyman probably achieved more over time, he is marred by PED use so Tyson is higher, between 5-12 in the ATG takes. holyman without peds would be top 10 undoubtaby, possibly as high as 6 or 7, but PEDs drop him outta the top ten for me.

 

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Both guys are a little over rated if you ask me. I have Holy ahead by narrow margin as he clearly beat better fighters.

 

its a tough one because while Tyson lost to Holyfield 2x because of what Evander possessed HEART AND lack of intimidation and these ingredients made a difference because Evander was not afraid but it worked for Tyson against many others. I think Tyson hit harder and started quick and furious while Evander could box and punch

also both men past it Evander did better than Tyson against Lennox Lewis and both men prime Evander did better against Douglas

while Tyson was a force many could not recon with Evander had his number so I kind of rate them very close and have changed my mind back and forth on this

 

I don't think there's a gnat's **** between them.

 

Can't say really. It's so close that it's up to personal preference I guess. Well, Holy's two emphatic H2H wins should perhaps swing it in his favor. If both were in their prime at the time, it would do so in my eyes.

 

evander clearly, he had better names than tyson had in his own list of wins. h2h evander beats tyson too, sometimes a fighter had the number of the other one, and it is one of these cases

 

Dominant title reigns are second only to great wins for my criteria on greatness. Tyson's reign is one of the best where Holyfield is behind Ali only for wins. I rate Tyson higher because H2H he rates higher. I don't think Holyfield could do what Tyson did (9 successful defenses) but I do believe Tyson could match Holyfield's best wins. It's still a guessing game but I do like dominant title reigns...against good competition, of course.

I have Tyson at #6 and Holyfield at #11. That's a huge distance between them. Holy never had that dominant reign though. I've yet to see a great argument for rating Holyfield higher.

 

Holyfield, because he possessed the two things Tyson never could. Heart, and mental fortitude.

 

why am i not suprised? while we're on the subject who is your top 10?

 

I wouldn't be surprised at anything either if I had a baseball bat stuck up my ass all day. Since you're infatuated with me and spend 24 hours a day looking at my profile, go ahead and search all posts made by Sangria. Thanks sweet tits!:good