Best Heavyweight of the 90's

Wow you shot down my point with very insightful arguments. I rest my case then. :roll:

 

Great post! :good

Both Lewis and Holyfield had great resumes, and it is unfair to say one of them had much better list of wins than other.

 

Simple Answer. Lennox Lewis.

 

Holyfield during the 90's:

17 fights
12-4-1 s/b 12-5

Lost to:
Bowe 2X
Moorer
Lewis 2X

Notable wins:
Holmes
Foreman
Douglas
Cooper atsch
Mercer - who you already discredited
Bowe
Moorer
Tyson - Post prison, who couldn't even throw a combination
Vaugn Bean


Lewis during the 90's:
31 Fights
29-1-1 s/b 30-1
Avenged his only defeat and the bull**** draw :deal

Lost to:
McCall - later Avenged

Notable wins:
Tucker
Bruno
Mercer
Golota - at the time a huge win
Morrison
Ruddock
Holyfield 2X
Briggs
Akinwande

LEWIS WINS THE 90s :good

I love how some love to discredit Lewis's wins over Holyfield by saying he was past his best, but ejaculate all over Holyfields wins over Holmes, Foreman and Tyson :deal

 

Bowe slightly edges Holyfield in my opinion. At the point you state Bowe "ducked" Lewis, Riddick had been in numerous wars already and was the "Champ". He had nothing more to prove and wasn't going to get ordered into a fight he wasn't interested in. I don't think it fair to say a great fighter like Bowe was ducking anyone.

 

Hello Riddick

 

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You seem bright, but it is too bad your mancrush on Holyfield forces most posters to totally disregard anything you post.

 

I give Lewis a lot of credit for beating Holyfield, I say that's his career highlight.
Holyfield was past his best though, in my opinion. Boxing fans and writers everywhere had noted that long before.

Likewise I give Holyfield credit for beating Tyson, Foreman and Holmes, who were ALL past their bests to varying degrees too.

BTW, it was Larry Holmes and Jesse Ferguson who "discredited" Ray Mercer, not me.
Still, Holyfield beat Mercer on a close but definite decision, and scored a KD. Lewis won a disputable decision.
Holmes did better than both of them, proving Holmes was a worthy contender in 1992.

The 1996 Tyson and the 1993 Bowe were better than any of those guys you list on Lewis's resune.

A 1999 Holyfield and a 1992 Razor Ruddock are Lewis's best wins there, very good wins.
Henry Akinwande or Shannon Briggs are no better than a guy like Alex Stewart.
IMO, a 1993 Tony Tucker is below a 1992 Larry Holmes. That's my opinion, judging from the fights I've seen.

Like I said before, either of these guys - Lewis or Holyfield - can be rated as the best of the 90s.

You started with the negative campaign against Holyfield's resume, but by the same standards Lewis's doesn't look too hot either.

Rating Lewis above Holyfield is fair, and if you want to rest a lot of that on his wins head-to-head than that's fair too. But a good argument can be made for Holyfield having better best wins, and a slightly better resume, and I think all boxing fans should acknowledge that Holyfield was past his best against Lewis, just as Lewis was past his best against Klitschko. Putting Holyfield in front of Lewis for the best heavyweight of the 90s is fair too. IMO.

 

Don't just look at names and pedegree, look at the manner that Lewis beat his guys and the way Evander sometmes failed to beat his..

90's Lewis battered Ruddock and Golota.. very early and convincingly
Holyfield boxed Cooper and was exposed by him... boxed 2 ex champs back to back.. Holmes , Foreman..

Evander lost twice to a man that refused to face Lennox as a pro..

Evander lost to Moorer , a man who then went on to hand the title to George Foreman.. The impressive fight that Evander impress me in was the none title affair with Ray Mercer, The man that i actually think may have pipped Lennox in a wonderful slugfest..

But in all honesty Lennox boxed everyone, and Holyfield boxed a select few..

Lewis's wins were against varied and accomplished challengers..
Holyfield got too much into fighting men two and three times.. Moorer 2.. Bowe 3, Stewart 2 .. Tyson 2.. Where Lennox took on everyone in a queue..Ruddock, Tucker, Bruno, Akinwande, and only chose to fight returns to avenge losses..

There are ways to look at it from both angles granted but the livelier fighters seemed to appear on Lewis's resume when they were in thier primes..

As a complete pro (80's , 90's Cruiser and Heavy) Evander was far more accomplished, but as a complete heavyweight Lenox did more as far as tackling the young contenders instead of old timers and ex foes..

Lewis liked fresh challenges, where Evander (though great) liked to cover old ground and re beat ex conquests..

God bless.. I think i'd edge with Lennox , but you always have that odd result that makes us question ourselves. Ray Mercer..!!!

God bless...

 

:rofl

.........and I agree.

In order:

Lewis
Holyfield
Tyson
Golota
Bowe

 

Bowe wasn't interested in fighting Lewis because he didn't think he could win. Rock Newman convinced him to drop those belts in the can so Bowe could go on to defend the supposed heavyweight championship vs. undeserving tomato cans like that bum with the mohawk................