...thanks to his cruiserweight record? i'm asking where you rank him based purely on heavyweight accomplishments, and then, who does he leapfrog when you factor in his cruiserweight record, if anyone.
so who's safe...? louis and ali surely are above him pound for pound. holmes too? does holyfield rank above foreman, marciano etc.
Ali and Louis are the only genuine Heavyweights I have above him. Obviously, Charles is ahead as well.
I'm trying to think who else might be, but only Ali and Louis for me also, rank above Holyfield P4P. Bottom line is we have Lewis, Tyson and Bowe who mattered in that HW era. Bowe only fought the ex-cruiser, Lewis and Tyson fought once with an inevitable outcome. Holyfield fought them all 7 times in total! Managed to beat two of them, drew with the best of them, and made a very good account of himself in the fights he lost. Holyfield really is impressive. He's got an old school tough as nails 1940's type resume. Only Louis' dominance and Ali's epicness top that.
Compared to many of the top HWs before him he was a big man. Holyfield is 6'2 1/2" with a 77 1/2" reach and very ripped even at age 48 and 220Lbs. P4P I'd rank him among the best ever at HW. Guys like Ali, Louis, Tyson, Marciano, Charles, Frazier, etc. With disregard for any P4P status, I'd still rank him among the best ever at HW. Guys like Ali, Holmes, Foreman, Louis, Lewis, etc.
haha ok. so it seems only louis and ali are safe (out of those who fought only at heavyweight)... this has plenty of implications if you group cruiserweight accomplishments with heavyweight ones.
I usually have Holyfield at 5 or 6 on the all-time Heavyweight list. The following notable Heavyweights all rank BELOW him: Joe Frazier Rocky Marciano Jack Dempsey Lennox Lewis Mike Tyson Gene Tunney Ezzard Charles (based on heavyweight records alone) Jim Jeffries The likes of Foreman, Louis, Ali, Holmes and Johnson rank above him.
I disagree with rating Frazier below Holyfield. Even adding Evander's cruiserweight resume to the equation.
i was asking who he ranks above that only competed at heavyweight (to see what value people put on his cruiserweight achievements). in other words, only louis and ali did enough at heavyweight alone to eclipse holyfield's entire career.