Or rather remained retired? How much does it affect his legacy? No winning fights over Tyson, and they really cemented his reputation as a warrior. No revenge over Moorer. No two fights with Lennox. On the plus side, spared Ruiz, Donald, Toney etc.
Outside the top 10 for certain without the wins over Tyson, Moorer, Mercer, which adds alot to Holyfield's legacy. For me Holyfield should've retired after Lewis fights that was a perfect time for him to bail out of the sport after a very competitive fight vs Lewis as there's no shame in losing to a prime Lewis who's an ATG. Every fight Holyfield had after Lewis added nothing to his resume except for unnecessary losses.
Cleaner record, but then again, very diminished career. Would probably be seen as one of those guys who could've done more but ended up quitting early. Him leaving the pros would be a major shakeup for the 90s scene, but that's not really what we're talking about here. Overall, pretty good, but not great. Two time unified champ, once undisputed, but kinda spotty record. Best Heavyweight scalps at 30-2 (12-2 disregarding Cruiserweight fights): James Tillis Pinklon Thomas Michael Dokes Alex Stewart x2 James Douglas George Foreman Bert Cooper Larry Holmes Riddick Bowe H2H doesn't change much, since we still get to see his peak years. I know that Holyfield gets a lotta **** for being in the Don King circus show during the 2000s, the fights with John Ruiz and him piling up losses, but look at what you've got without all that. 4x (should be 5x) champ shot down to just be 2x.
