Holyfield and there really isn't much of a credible argument against it. Lewis wasn't the de facto number 1 HW until mid 1999.
That sounds right, though I can't say I was much impressed either time he fought a well-past-it Holy.
Thing is, though, man, I don't think Lewis did quite fulfil his potential. While Steward cured a lot of his boxing woes - balance, technique - I thought he let Lennox get too big. 251lb for McCall 2. Bowe was 246lb for Holyfield 2, same weight Douglas was for Holy, and both were derided for their conditioning. A Steward trained Lewis coming in at 228-35lb, with the conditioning required to get to that weight, would have been something to behold. Coming in at 240plus as he always did with Steward, I think Lewis only ever showed us about 90% of what he could have been. It's testament to how good he was that 90% was enough to be the top man for as long as he was (Golota - Klitschko for me, regardless of the Rahman result first time around), although by the time Lewis was the no 1, the heavyweight talent pool had thinned out a bit from what it had been in the early to mid 90s.
You make good points. Lewis, to me, had two primes. A physical prime and a technical prime. His physical prime came around at a time when Steward might have taken advantage of it. However, I get the impression that Steward did seek to build Lewis up, with more muscle mass to gain strength. I wonder if Lewis could have even made sub-240, after not too long under Steward’s tutelage. However, it might also have been down to Lewis’ greatest flaw, which was his complacency. Either way, there was room for improvement and I have to agree that the lithe and agile version of Lewis (say, of the Ruddock fight), with the technical ability to fully utilise his physical gifts, would have been a spectacle, for sure.
Judging by their best form in that decade, it's Bowe, he is the best. But Lewis is clearly the greatest.
Holyfield, no contest. He beat Bowe and Tyson, and beat Lewis in the first one, too, only to get robbed. Bowe, Tyson, and Lewis are next in line tho. But Tyson was past it after Douglas.
Depends how you're measuring it. Lewis is the greatest Heavy of all the guys who were big and relevant in the nineties, but his best work straddles two decades and it wasn't until the latter of those two decades that he really enjoyed a prolonged period as the consensus best Heavyweight in the world beyond any reasonable doubt. He didn't fight Holyfield until 1999, while if you look at a lot of the other leading Heavyweights of the 1990s (regardless of what you think of them), he never fought them at all, at least during that decade: Tyson, Bowe, Moorer and even old man Foreman. Holyfield, on the other hand, was a nineties Heavyweight all the way. Won his first title there right at the start of the decade in 1990, won his last one a nice round ten years later in 2000. Fought and beat all of the above names which Lewis didn't at least once. Had at least two spells in that decade where he was the proper daddy of the division, albeit neither were particularly long. If Lewis and Holyfield had both retired at the turn of the century then I think Holyfield would rank higher in almost everyone's list, despite effectively losing to Lewis twice. Holyfield, though he had some valiant losses, didn't really accomplish anything legacy-boosting after the turn of the century, whereas Lewis boosted his credentials with a couple of his better career results against Tua and Vitali, and recovering the title in such style against Rahman, albeit he should never have lost it to him in the first place. And though it shouldn't get him many points at all, we know that for a lot of people, the Tyson win in 2002 really boosts Lennox's standing (it doesn't for me, but that's far from a universal view). So, Holyfield the greatest Heavyweight of the nineties. But Lewis the greatest Heavyweight to have fought and been around in that decade, if that makes sense.
Bowe was the best, but both Holyfield and Lewis were greater imo. I cannot emphasize the greatness of Bowe at his best, and I remain one of the people whom don't feel Bowe ever lost to Holyfield (I had him winning the second fight by two points). It's just...his best wasn't active or long enough to really matter too much in the grand scheme of things. Both he and Lewis ducked each other in the 90s, and that would have been what possibly could have catapulted them both to greatness in the mid-90s (I mean, did anyone really think Lewis was THAT great after the Holy fight?).
Sorry but Ivan Drago actually did have one pro fight against a natural light-heavy two time lineal champion and ex journeyman who they dragged out of retirement named Robert Balboa and he was TKO'd for his troubles the amateurs and pros are different buddy.
Are you for real ? What did that roided headbutting cheat achieve that puts him in front of Lewis ?!? He beat a fat Douglas and a shell of Tyson. He lost to Moorer, Lewis and Bowe. He was champ for a shorter time than Lewis. There is nothing whatsoever that puts Roydifield in front of Lewis.
