Evander Holyfield is one of the most underated fighters of all time

He sure is. But his inconsistency hurts him. He could be marvelous like against Foreman, Bowe or Tyson but also can be average like against Moorer. It's a shame that he was robbed in Germany against Valuev. Maybe he wasn't most deserving heavy to have a belt at that time, but it would be a beatiful end of his career.

 

I think his inconsistency, which started around the first Moorer fight says it all. He was able to reinvent his style, and adjust to some of his shortcomings to be successful late in his career. He is one of the most mentally tough fighters ever to lace on a pair of gloves, and for that I rank him very highly, regardless of some of his losses.

 

I too rank him high. Basically number one at Cruiser and he's arguably in the top 10 at heavy. Too bad he never came along a decade earlier, then his size wouldn't have mattered so much. But his wins over Bowe and Tyson are as good as anybodies. P4P he ranks higher than Lewis, Bowe or the Klitschkos. Not sure about Tyson, Marciano, Frazier and Dempsey though, but he's in their league.


Hate to say it, but I think he's hurt his legacy by not quiting early, especially lossing to Byrd and Toney and Ruiz. The reason being is that if you want to remain a professional fighter, I personally don't subscribe to the view that just cause you're older only your wins count and not your losses. Cause if you take that view, you're robbing your opponents of their much deserved victories.

He should have retired after his loss to Lewis.

 

i doubt if he is underrated at all.
simply fighters like ali but especially and radically joe louis are overrated.
simply i don't see evander as inferior to them by any means.
his technique was far from brilliant.
he was strong , fit and tough.
tougher than louis for sure.
louis was brutally stopped by marciano and KO'd by Schmelling.
people ignore that.
i would have really loved to see louis getting KO'd by tyson in the first or second round of a fight between them so the nuthuggers here will have something to see. evander took tyson punches and returned him some serious slaps that stopped him.
he also did better than tyson against lewis , douglas and tillis but worse against savaresse , holmes , tillman and Stewart
and about the same against pinklon thomas
h2h holyfield is somewhat better than tyson.
p4p clearly less.

 

He is tending to move up in my estimation.

He would have an absolute field day if he was in his prime at the moment.

 

Overrated at HW. He was the greatest cruiser and had legendary heart and that quality makes people overrate fighters. He was never dominant like Lennox Lewis, rarely stopped opponenst who were in shape. Lost 4 out of 5 against Bowe and Lewis. Good wins but inconsistent and not dominant against elite opponents.

 

I originally laughed at the thread title as he's one of the most well known boxers of modern generations but what you say is very true.

His story lets him down in my eyes, he lost at some points where he should of won and it kind of messes up the formula of a great. He's also stayed in the game for too long which soils his name.

If you ignore the late stages of his career, Holyfield was one ****ing badass CW and HW!!

 

He gets underrated at HW, he has the best resume at HW of all time in terms of who hes fought. Hes beat 6 linear HW champions and arguably fought 4 top10 HWs. His resume/wins shits on Dempseys/Marcianos/Listons/Jeffries/Louis's from a great height. Frazier/Foreman have a handfull of good wins between them, his resume/wins are better than Jack Johnsons/Listons/Holmes/Tysons. His longevity is excellent, as are past prime performances

I haven't seen any lists that have him top5 HWs, hes underrated and certainly should be ranked over Dempsey/Liston

 

In all Holyfield has beaten seven lineal heavyweight champions.

I don't know how many ranked contenders he has shared a ring with but I am prety sure that Louis and Ali are his only peers in this regard.

His level of career opposition is probably as unforgiving as any heavyweight champions.

What ocasionaly hurts his standing is the fact that he lost to the best he faced.

 

He was a great cruiserweight,and a very good heavyweight. He and Lennox Lewis were unquestionably the best heavies of the 90's. I rate him in the lower part of my all time top 10 big men.

 

I think he's rated pretty much spot on: best CW ever and easily a top 15 HW (which says a LOT given the talent the HW divison has had since 1900). He always turned up in shape and pretty much always showed up to fight to the end. The guy fought through Hepatitis, Heart attacks, unhealed surgery etc!

With his bravery and fortitude he certainly arned his 'warrior' title, especially given he was outsized and outweighed by pretty much all of his opponents at HW. But I just cant get his inconsistency out of my head when this topic comes up.