Best fighter in their division two decades running

Bernard Hopkins maybe? He hadn't unified in the 90s, but won his title in '96 and was already viewed as a better fighter than guys like Holmes and Joppy by the turn of the century. And he was definitely the best mw of the 00s, from 00-05 he was much better and more dominant than any fighter has been since in that division.

Although I doubt this would fit the description the TS is looking for, as Jones (h2h) and Toney (opposition) both have legitimate arguments to have been a greater mw in the 90s than Bernard.

 

Fitzsimmons was the Standout Middleweight and Light Heavyweights of the 1890s and standout light heavyweight of the 1900s. It is also arguable that he was the best heavyweight of the 1890s and the best middleweight of the 1880s, although it is not a definite winning argument.

 

Lennox Lewis 90s and 2000s.

 

This certainly favours fighters who debuted at mid-decade. Arguably Hagler, Lewis, Holmes, Ali, Robinson

 

I prefer Tyson's championship achievements from '86 to '89 in the '80s to Larry's championship achievements of '80 to '85.

Especially because Witherspoon deserved a rematch for giving Holmes a razor close fight in '83 which can be scored either way. Plus by excluding the '70s, Holmes doesn't get the Norton (his greatest win) or Shavers I (a flawless performance) victories to consider.

 

Holyfield
80s cruiser
90s heavyweight

 

delete

 

Lewis has a good shout.

 

Ali to me is the most obvious.

But I havent seen many on this thread I disagree strongly with.

I do also think Tyson stole the 80's from Holmes. Considering he just missed his legacy damaging upset loss, his unbeaten body of work the last few years trumps Holmes' work slightly, considering two of Larry's best wins are gone and three losses(2 fair and legitimate) are included.

 

Sorry my bad. I forgot.



:blurp

 

Benny Leonard might qualify. Was there really a better LW in the teens and 20's? He starts to get thinner as he approaches that first retirement, but still..

 

I don't rank Lennox's work in the 2000's over Wlad, personally. Lennox has the better individual win in Vitali, but here's their records from 2000-2009 (which really isn't even the proper way to gauge it- it should be 2001-2010- but it's shown this way to benefit Lewis' argument):

Lennox Lewis: 6-1 (5 KO's, 1 knockout loss)

Wlad Klitschko: 22-2 ( 18 KO's, 2 knockout losses)

Maybe if Lewis stuck around a little longer and got a few more fights in, I could see it. But Wlad just did more. Was the best HW longer, more defenses, more contenders fought, and only 1 more loss. The difference in competition isn't enough to offset just how much more Wlad accomplished during that period, though I do rate Vitali as the best fighter either man fought and beat during that time span.