Holyfield hes underrated on the Classic and i think people tend to overrated Griffith... Dont get me wrong Emile is an all time great but i see him compared on par with guys that i have over him..... This one no different i will break it down later i gotta go. Holyfield top 20-25 atg.... Emile top 60 atg.
It's close but Holyfield ranks higher. He fought and beat notable fighters like: George Foreman Larry Holmes Riddick Bowe Mike Tyson Michael Moorer Dwight Qawi Carlos DeLeon etc etc He is a 2-division champ, 4-time Heavyweight champ and has beaten more world champs than any Heavyweight in history.
I really like both fighters but I'm going with Holyfield. He dominated at CW after winning a SD over 15 rounds vs. Hall of Famer Qawi for the WBA CW World Title in just his 12th pro fight. He beat the likes of T. Booze W8, Anthony Davis KO4, Chisanda Mutti KO3, and Terry mims before winning a World Title. As A CW World Champ he defended and/or picked up a World title from Henry Tillman KO, Ricky Parkey KO3 (IBF belt), Ossie Ocasio KO11, Dwight Qawi KO4, and Carlos DeLeon KO8 (WBC belt). Overall he went 18-0 (14) and 6-0 (5) in World Title Fights at CW. He moved up to HW and went 6-0 (6) before winning the HW World title. He beat Tillis KO5, Thomas KO7, Dokes KO10, Rodrigues KO2, Stewart KO8, and McDonagh KO4 before picking up the Undisputed HW World Title from Buster Douglas KO3. He defended the title vs. Foreman W12, Cooper KO7 (dropped for the first time in this fight), and Holmes W12. At this point he was 30 years old, 28-0 (22) overall, 10-0 (7) in World Title fights, 4-0 (1) vs. Hall of Famers (Qawi x2, Foreman, and Holmes), and a 2 division Champ. He was getting ready to face Bowe for the first time. In comparison Griffith was 54-8 (19) 1NC overall and 16-4 (5) in World Title Fights at the same age. He was getting ready to face Benvenuti for the third and final time. Griifth had won World Titles at WW, LMW, and MW during this time. The LMW title was lightly regarded and he eventually vacated the title. During this stretch he beat the likes of- Denny moyer 2 out of 3 (their fights were close decisions) Benny Paret 2 out of 3 (stopping him twice and losing by SD. Paret died 10 days after the third fight with Griffith due to injuries sustained in their fight) Ralph Dupas x2 (stoppinghim once) Don Fullmer 1 out of 2 Luis Rodriguez 2 out of 3 (stopping him once, he lost by decision) Dick Tiger (close decision) Joey Archer x2 (close decision) Nino Benvenuti 1 out of 2 ...He was stopped in 1 round by Rubin Carter at age 25 Past age 30 I think it's clear that Holyfield has done more so I focused on their careers up to age 30.
