fine im stating it lennox lewis is top 5 heavywieght of all time

But where does wlad rate?

 

Joshua actually said in an interview he has achieved more than Lewis so where does he rank today.

 

#3 for me.

 

6

 

Joshua's full of ****

 

I think the nature of the Heavyweights is that once you get past your first two (basically Ali and Louis) there's often not a great deal between them and they all have considerable holes in their records. You could rank Lewis anywhere between #4 and #8 and I wouldn't argue.

I see no reason to put him above Holmes, though, and Larry is my established #3. Similar longevity as viable, championship-level Heavyweights (14 years between Holmes' war with Norton and his brilliant win over Mercer, but that did include a couple of short-lived retirements, while there was over a decade between Lewis blasting out Ruddock and scraping past Vitali), and level of opposition beaten is roughly equal. But the difference is that Holmes wasn't relieved of his titles twice by being one-punched into oblivion by divisional gatekeepers when he was in or at least around his prime years. Yeah, yeah, I know - it's the Heavyweights, that's boxing, it can happen to anyone etc. etc. But the point is, it didn't happen to just anyone. It happened to Lewis, twice. I can forgive the McCall one, I guess, because McCall with his head screwed on was a considerable fighter and Lewis was still a little naïve and amateurish in how he fought in 1994. And lightning has to strike somewhere eventually. But the Rahman one?

Holmes being usurped by a career 175 pounder who was never that convincing at Heavyweight (though I had Holmes winning the rematch) ain't great either, don't get me wrong, but I find a clearly slowed, shop-worn 35 year old whose performances had been on the downturn for a couple of years being outscored by an outstanding Light-Heavyweight more forgivable than either of Lewis' defeats.

As I said, after Ali and Louis the division is a bit of an uninspiring mess compared to some others, but I make Holmes the closest thing to an exception to that rule. Probably not #3 using any individual criterion in isolation (opponents beaten, longevity, all-round achievements, head-to-head ratings etc.), but pretty much the only guy in the chasing pack who scores consistently across all of those criteria. Lump it all together and he's worth the #3 spot, I feel.

 

I have no issue with anyone having Lennox Lewis top 5 of all time.
Head to head he could be top 3.

 

Top 5 is right. I could see him as top 3 too.