Tyson lost(and stopped) against the 2 all time great hws that he fought from his era. (Not a lhw or a shot Larry Holmes.) No, it is not a debate. No serious list ranks Tyson in legacy above Frazier, Marciano,Lewis or Holyfield
Sorry but tyson above holyfield in legacy is laughable. H2h it is very subjetive and you can argue about the mhytical prime Tyson. But legacy? Nah 1- Evander did beat him and stopped him 2- 4 times hw champion of the world 3- world champion in 2 different weights 4- he destroyed buster douglas And Douglas knocked Tyson out. 5- he did miles better against lewis than Tyson did
What about Johnson? His resume has ridiculous depth, and he should always do well, on a Holmes argument!
I went with Larry Holmes as he was the best heavyweight in the world from 78 to 85 and made twenty successful defences without losing a fight. Larry only lost one fight by kayo and it was against a peak Mike Tyson when Larry was inactive and 38 years old. Lennox has a great record and made a lot of defences but he was stopped twice ( and counted out against Rachman who was no prime Tyson ) in his prime. This counts against him for mine. Wlad K was made nearly as many defences as Louis did but his losses to Sanders, Brewster and Purrity ( he failed to give Puritty or Sanders rematches and waited three years to fight Brewster again ) keep him from # 3. Holyfield fought everyone, won four versions of the crown and his longevity was amazing but the Bowe and Lewis losses keep him from getting to number three imo. Marciano, Dempsey and Johnson didn’t make enough defences or have a win against a prime, fellow greats to get the spot imo. Ditto Jeffries or Vitali. Tyson’s first reign was incredibly exciting but Mike lost the title to Douglas in an emphatic fashion and the rest of his career failed to live up to the early promise. I love Frazier but the Ali and Foreman losses count Joe out. All these picks are from an historically great perspective. Head to head is another matter entirely. Cheers All.
I rate Holmes high but there is no human way that you put him over Ali. he has a lot of wins against all time great hws. Sonny Liston with rematch ,FloYd Patterson with rematch , Joe Frazier with rematch, a peak George Foreman by ko, Ken Norton with rematch(much better version than Larry fought). he also did beat guys like Jerry Quarry, Ron Lyle, Cleveland Williams, Earnie Shavers, Jimmy Ellis,Jimmy Young. 3 times hw champion. Holmes can't be ranked over Ali in legacy
Holyfield didn't come close to fighting everyone He missed out on Ruddock, Witherspoon, Tucker, McCall, Tubbs, Bruno, Tua and several others
I've always had an inkling, if Holyfield had faced Witherspoon in around 1990 or so, he could have struggled. If Tim had gotten himself in a decent shape then faced, let's say the Holyfield of the Cooper fight, then he may just have gotten a decision.
I'll put a cat amongst the pigeons... 3. Charles Sonny Liston I rank on a rough scale of: 75% Who I think they'd beat 25% Who they beat There. I've said it. I can see the superior argument for others. But that's just my take.
Lewis is 11 on my list. Had he matched up with Bowe in 93 and Tyson in 96 (and won) he'd probably be 3rd. As it was, Holyfield had those fights instead and I have him inside the top 10 as a result. I think Lewis was unlucky to not get those fights as they would have more clearly defined his legacy. I can look past the McCall KO but the loss to Rahman (although brilliantly avenged) is an undeniable stain. History shows it is hard to defend a title at heavyweight many times and for a long time. Holmes did that and his best win over a name opponent (Norton) is not that far behind Lewis's best (over Holyfield). The win over the version of Tyson he fought, with hindsight, wasn't that much more impressive than Holmes's win over Ali. Based on all that, Holmes is ahead of Lewis on my list. But between the no. 4 and no. 12 spots on the all-time heavyweight leaderboard it is paper thin.
It is very subjective but at the end of the day you have to judge them by the facts and the rivals that they actually fought
