I had to pick Evander Holyfield. Per Ring Magazine: #1 HW 90,91,93,96,97,98. Top 5: 87,88,89,92,95,99,2000,2002. Save his brief retirement a top 5 HW for roughly 15 years. He hung at the top forever and mixed it up with everyone near their peak, beating most before his shoulder injury or at least giving them hell. He was the glue that held the division together for the 90s. I have no objection to Lennox Lewis being picked however. But I'm a sucker for guys like Holyfield, Patterson, and Charles who had such long careers at the top and somehow did so well against such stiff competition for so many years.
How can you say Tyson when he was KOd by a bum in his prime and then KOd by another bum to be retired by McBride?
its amusing how the brit fans overrate lewis. yep, its not wrong to patronize your own product but hey it doenst always have to border with nuthugging. i mean were talking about guys here like holmes tyson and holyfield and the brits think lewis is at par with them? lol. dont get me wrong, lewis was a good fighter. its very unfortunate lewis didnt have the opportunity to show his greatness as he fought in a very weak era. is lewis overrated? id say yes. just look at his signature wins: against an aging and psychologically damaged tyson and a washed up holyfield? not to mention he lost against guys like mccall and rahman in his prime. sure every great fighter suffer defeats. but not to the mccalls and rahmans. those are the kind of fighters that are there to lose against greats, sort of stay busy or money fights, and to lost against them by way of humiliating KO in 2 is a mortal crime against greatness.
does being the youngest heavyweight to be champ count for anything? how about holding the unified, undisputed and lineal title for the longest time? or simply being the most feared heavy of his era?:think
no just means it was a weak era...and who said he was the most feared??his opponents where carefully picked to suit his style..tyson was gd but he wasnt great as was showed EVERYTIME when he stepped up in class...