Come one Classic... lets end this (heated) debate... Holyfield - Lewis?

Holyfield's record is not "very spotty" really.
Take his record up to 1997 or 1999 at the latest, to be fair.
His record is pretty consistently wins, against decent opposition.

Only if you count fights that occurred when he's totally shot can you say his record is too patchy.

 

Holyfield was already "old" when he lost to Moorer in 1994.

 

it's a testament to holyfield that people even refer to any of his fights during the last fifteen years when discussing his legacy. i think it has been forgotten how holyfield was considered in '96 - finished. just because he got it all together for one last hurrah, doesn't mean we should have expected him to maintain that level beyond that point.

as it happens, he defied the odds twice more by performing respectably against lewis (II) and then valuev. if someone has a good, unexpected past prime performance, it shouldn't automatically lead to all of the other fights in between becoming meaningful. there's a difference between being capable of a certain level of performance for a single fight, and being capable of reaching that level three times a year, every year.

for example, just because hopkins rolled back the years against pascal, doesn't mean he wasn't past his prime against calzaghe. fighters aren't machines that deteriorate at a uniform rate. humans are capable of inspiration. few more so than holyfield.

 

Well that depends on whether you believe he had help from these little puppies.

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Well said.

Everything Holyfield did AFTER 1992 was a unexpected bonus to his legacy.

 

completely agree. the evan fields situation makes this whole debate much more complicated! first you have to assess whether he was indeed guilty, and then you need to think about the implications of that. no small task. i was ignoring the drug issue for simplicity's sake.

 

There's no drug that makes you a great fighter like Holyfield.

There are a lot of guys out there taking PEDs and training their asses off. Most end up as journeymen at best.

 

yeah, i lean towards this opinion too. complicated issue though, and i can't be bothered to go into it now. i don't think it's particularly interesting either.

 

I rank Holyfield over Lewis personally. I have Lewis closer to where Tyson is in the bottom ten.

 

Nice post and I agree.

 

Quite right. If you add Holyfield's achievements at Cruiserweight,then he eclipses Lennox,but at soley Heavyweight,Lennox had the more dominant reign.

 

If an average fighter takes peds it makes him a little better, but still just above average.
If a great fighter takes peds it helps him maintain a level above those less skilled, no brainer really.

Holyfields ability, heart and desire are without question.
Their are questions about how he's maintained himself though.

 

If Lewis had to deal with a prime Bowe he might not have had that dominant run. I can easily see Holyfield having a fairly dominant run against the likes of Grant, Golota, Briggs, Tua, and Botha cant you?

 

Looking at his record, he hasn't maintained himself well.