Bill Caplan's 20 greatest heavyweights

Absolutely imo. Prime Holy against pre-Steward I see Lewis getting stopped in 11, with Steward Holy by unanimous decision.

Lewis beat Holy twice, never consummately imo. The people who got all angry over the draw had grounds...but that was nowhere near a robbery the likes of Briggs-Foreman.

 

Tbh I had no problem with that. Liston and Foreman outside the top ten struck me more.

 

I mostly have a problem with Liston's longevity and fight frequency. That keeps him out of the top 10 for me (I put Tyson just above him at 10).

 

When was Holyfields peak? Against elite fighters Evander was never more than two fights away from defeat.

 

This is a really good point.
I'm going to be controversial (though heartfelt) and say that Holy was at his peak against Bowe. I think both of those fighters would have been any version of Lewis and Tyson. That day those guys were the best in the world, and those same guys remained that way throughout the 90s (as in, they would have beat anyone who became champ during that time).

Just my opinion.

 

Yes it is certainly a justifiable conclusion. They certainly were the best two in the world at that moment. But so far as world domination goes both fall a bit short after the Holmes and Tydon eras. And I include Lewis in this falling short business. One could not stand out from the other. Bowe could lose to Evander and Evander could lose to Bowe. Holyfield could lose to Lewis and he could beat lewis too. Bowe never did fight Lewis in the pros but i guess theyre the same or there abouts. I guess Bowe and Holyfield never lost a title by knockout though. This is something only Lewis is remembered for.

 

And he lost it twice that way.

That said, I feel kind of dumb overly criticizing a man who won the title three times and beat some seriously great fighters doing so.

 

Exactly. You cant knock Lewis' resume. He beat more elite fighters than anyone else of that time. And thats why I rate him higher than Bowe and Evander. I think hes the highest placed champion who was knocked out for the title in my ATG rankings.

 

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