How much is Bowe's win over Holyfield worth in historical terms?

I think Tyson never achieved a victory as valuable in his career as, say, Michael Spinks.

Active Holmes 1985 > inactive Holmes 1988

You know what I mean? The Klitschko brothers never achieved a victory as valuable as, say, Oliver McCall. David Tua never achieved a victory as valuable as, say, Michael Moorer. Joe Louis never achieved a victory as valuable as Jimmy Young.

 

What about the other theses?

Getting back to Joe Louis and Jimmy Young:

Which of the boxers defeated by Joe Louis was better than George Foreman?

 

John Henry Lewis

although, considering the version he fought, you could say they were on par or Foreman being a better win

 

Okay, I think it's very difficult to compare. For example, Louis's destruction of Schmelling, Liston's defeat of Patterson, Foreman's defeat of Frazier, Tyson's defeat of Spinks, Sanders' defeat of Wlad. All of these are great victories. Bowe's was the single biggest heavyweight victory of the 1990s, and perhaps the biggest overall in the last 40 years.

 

Again, it's tough to say because Holy could blow cold, and a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was using HGH. What version of Holy was Bowe even fighting?

Bowe never again obtained a high quality victory, unless you count post heart attack Holy, or Herbie Hyde? Why? Lack of motivation? Or was he just not that good?

 

But Frazier it was because he was used up. Especially after Foreman.

 

I think he was great. He faced three versions of Holyfield and outperformed each one. Holyfield himself considered Bowe the best opponent he ever faced. Not Tyson '96-'97, not Lewis '99, but Bowe, and I think he was being honest. Bowe showed in fights with dangerous, not outstanding, but truly very good opponents like Ferguson, Gonzales, Hide, and Seldon that he was a class apart. In reality, Bowe defeated everyone he faced and never let anyone knock him out. I think he's greatly underrated today.

 

He won two of them, one against a post heart attack Holy. So he won one great fight, and a lot of guys who accomplished that...Corrie Sanders...Haseem Rahmen...weren't great.

But the point is, because a lot of Holy's "greatness" was pharmaceutical, we have no idea how "great" he was when Bowe beat him. Maybe he mistimed his cycle, or wasn't using his best stuff. who knows, really?

 

Mike was 2-3 against other IBHOF members

 

Yes, Frazier is 1-4, Bowe is 2-1. I'll never understand how anyone can be a serious boxing fan and still post those numbers. I think you've finished this thread.

 

The first fight was at a very high level of athleticism. The pace, the variety of action, the dynamics of the punches, the motivation they showed, the heart for the fight, the skill.

If you're not sure, after watching Holyfield and Bowe, what form he's in, whether he's good or bad, then you have a long way to go, my friend.

It was a great fight and a great victory for Bowe. Trust me or remain skeptical.