Who were the top 5 heavyweights of the 90`s?

Buster Douglas had a video game and Foreman had the grill. If you’re playing the popularity game…still not Tommy. Bruno was very popular in the UK and known in the US too.

 

Buster Douglas was done in 1990. He wasn't one of the top five fighters of the 90s. He certainly was in the year 1990, yes. But not the decade.

George Foreman's grill had no direct relation to boxing and basically provided Foreman money in retirement. When it took off, he got out. It didn't have direct ties to the sport like Rocky movies did.

And Foreman could be in the top five. But he was more a holdover from the 1970s. The 1990s wasn't his era. He was a point of ridicule for most of the later decade, until he beat Moorer.

I'm just listing the most famous heavyweights who are synonymous with the 90s.

Morrison was a bigger name in the sport than most everyone listed except those at the very top.

I'd rate Bruno over McCall, too, because he was a star outside the ring in the UK.

But Morrison was more well known around the world.

If the High Noon card had come off, featuring Bruno, Mercer, Morrison and Hide, the number five entrant would probably be more clear cut.

The top four seem pretty obvious.

 

Maybe because Norton and Schmeling have several other quality wins while McCall was a major underachiever and lost so many times.

 

No.

This myth needs to stop. You do not get ranked top 5 h2h because you looked competitive LOSING to an aging overweight champion in his last fight. There are multiple boxers in the 90's who could've looked as good or better than Vitali against that version of Lewis.

 

He beat Lewis, Larry Holmes, Fres Oquendo, Akinwade, a young Maskaev, Seldon. He had some decent wins. I think a man should be judged by his best wins personally as a lot of losses could just signal he fought better competition more often or fought to long.

 

I don't fully agree with that. If someone has double digit losses while their contemporaries don't, that says more about them than the era. Morrison, Moorer, Foreman, Mercer, etc didn't lose nearly as many times as McCall did, he was very beatable.

KOing Lewis was a great achievement, but a looping right hand over the top was the same way Rahman beat Lewis, which shows a consistent weakness of Lewis. I wouldn't say Rahman was a top 5 HW of that era either.

 

The rating stems from his utter dominance in his other fights. So what if he lost to Lewis? That doesn't preclude him from being a H2H monster. Fury doesn't have a great resume either but H2H probably ranks extremely highly.

 

You claimed Vitali was top 5 h2h in the 1990's decade.

Vitali did nothing noteworthy in the 90's aside from knocking out the much tinier, fragile Herbie Hide.

If you mean top 5 h2h in general across all eras that's also laughable. His competition was horrendous. You specifically mentioned the Lewis fight as evidence of his h2h greatness, and I repeat: LOSING to an old aging champion in his last fight doesn't give me much confidence that a boxer is top 5. It's extremely illogical. By your logic, the 37 year old Lewis who beat Vitali should be no lower than #4 in the top 5 h2h rankings...!

 

He appears to have been pretty close to his prime in 1999 even if he didn't have the opportunity to prove it against good opponents.

I didn't put him top 5 h2h all time just in the 1990s which really isn't a huge compliment on my part as I think the era is hugely overrated

 

Foreman would’ve gone 0-2 against Lewis. 0-1 against Tucker (ducked him), probably 0-1 against Bruno, and would be slightly favored over Norris but McCall only lost a SD there.

And on top of that, he would’ve lost to Holmes and possibly someone like Seldon or Maskaev.

Moorer, Mercer, and Morrison only do marginally better against that line up in comparison to Foreman.

You can stop now, playboy.

 

The top 4 is easy. There's probably 4/5 guys who have a case for number 5.

 

What does this have to do with Foreman in the 70's possibly having a longer reign if he didn't have to fight Ali? Nothing. You changed the topic because you're incapable of giving him credit.

Name 5 boxers who'd keep their titles defending against Ali.

 

Err, again, the only noteworthy win Vitali had in the 90's was Herbie Hide. Beating Hide doesn't convince me a boxer is top 5 h2h. The lewis fight was in the 2000's and he LOST that fight.

 

The topic is about the 90s. No idea why you fell back on rambling about the 70s.

Wlad, Lewis, Fury, prime Frazier, Vitali (cry me a river), and Tyson would be favored over mid 70s Ali.