ATG: Who Ranks Higher? Roy Jones Jr or Evander Holyfield?

What’s your issue with this?

People have debated ATG rankings from before you were born.

It’s not a new thing.

 

I wouldn’t say easily.

What Roy did was pretty special.

 

You’d probably rate Wilder over Roy.

 

A bit surprised by the poll results. Roy has the better scalps, more titles in more divisions, and looked far more dominant as a fighter. I think he's clearly higher.

 

I had never heard the term until a few years ago on internet forums. What does it mean?

 

I mean, how is this even debatable? What did Evander Holyfield do that was so special and ground-breaking, that others couldn't do and what made people be in so much awe from watching Holyfield?

Chin? Oliver Mccall and Mariusz Wach have significantly better chins and durability.

Defense? James Toney and Chris Byrd have much superior defenses.

Heart? Alexander Povetkin has just as good of a heart, if not better than Holyfield.

Speed? David Haye, Mike Tyson, Oleksandr Usyk and James Toney are / were all faster.

Inside-fighting? James Toney craps on Holyfield as he owned him on the inside. Same with Chris Byrd.

Outside-fighting? Both Klitschko bros and Lennox Lewis are far superior to Holyfield in this department.

I mean, I can't see anything positively special about Holyfield that made him stand-out above everyone else, like Roy Jones Jr was. If anybody could pinpoint that something which made Holyfield stand-out or made him special compared to the rest, please enlighten me. Otherwise, the only thing that (negatively) stood out about Holyfield, was the fact that he was arguably the biggest and greatest drug cheat in the history of the sport of boxing, effectively also making him one of the biggest frauds of all time too.

Whereas in Roy Jones Jr, we have a guy who absolutely is the benchmark for athleticism, speed and explosiveness. He redefined the limits of human athleticism in boxing. In his prime, he was the greatest athlete ever seen in the sport of boxing and he may still be the most athletic boxer in history to this day, barring only a few boxers who rival him.

Whilst in Holyfild, we have a guy who has all been surpassed or equalled by a ton of guys in every department that he was supposedly 'special' or 'renowned' for.

So for me, this is a no-brainer! Roy Jones Jr not only ranks higher, but does so by a healthy and a handsome margin. The guy who has set the bar for other proceeding boxers in any department, and has shown unprecedented attributes, logically and objectively ranks higher than a guy who hasn't done any of those things. Thus, Roy Jones jr > Evander Holyfield objectively!

 

It means 'All-Time-Great'!

 

Holyfield. Overall. Once Roy lost he totally unraveled. Holyfield was still reasonably successful at a high-ish level up until about the age of 40.. Roy was a freak talent but when his reflexes slowed it put his glass mandible on notice.

 

Jones. At his peak was unquestionably the best in his weight class, I never thought that at all about Holyfield, great competitor though he was.

 

Eye test - Roy. Best I've ever seen.

Resume, Achievements etc - Has to be Evander.

 

Whichever one took less PEDS

 

How? I'm struggling to see how his resume is superior. Roy has a host of top contenders at LHW, a prime James Toney when he was considered P4P#1 or #2, an undefeated Bernard Hopkins, and an incredible weight-jumping feat against John Ruiz. He might have lost 4 rounds in total across those 3 incredible wins. How does Holyfield compete with that?

 

You’ve never heard the term ‘All time great’ before?

 

What's the official definition?

Lineal? Adversity? Toughness? Chin? Most Defenses In Shortest Time? The eras are completely different, with more and more weight classes and more and more belts over time.

 

Not outside internet forums in the last few years no?