Greatest Fighter of the last 25 Years?

1. Pea - His resume is stacked with good fighters, and has 3-4 great fighters, cannot believe someone said his resume holds him back, also the most skilled figther of the last 1/4 century.

2. Jones - Has less great wins than some lower ranked fighters, but his win over Toney is huge, as are his dominance and Heavyweight title, probably the most gifted fighter i've ever seen.

3. Chavez - I don't like him but you can't argue with his dominance or achievements.

4. Pacquiao - Arguably has as good a list of opponents as anyone of the last 25 years, his weightjumping achievements are massive too. his recent fall from grace seems to have really altered peoples opinion on him (Same happened to Jones Jr a couple of years ago too)

5. Mayweather - Too many unanswered questions and his list of top fighters beaten is too thin for him to be any higher imo. Still a great talent, some very good wins and multi weight titles all fantastic achievements. His unbeaten record means little though imo.

The top 5 imo is pretty easy and I struggle to see any of them moving in my eyes. 6-8 has Hopkins, Holyfield and maybe De La Hoya, not sure of an order.

 

I can understand why so many people pick Whitaker over Holyfield, I just dont agree :yep

Imo Holy faced tougher opposition over a longer period of time, as their careers ran parallel lets do a comparison.

1984: Holy is robbed & wins Olympic bronze, knocking out every one he faced, Pea wins Gold

1986: Holy wins 1st world title after beating Qawi in one of the great fights of the 1980s, Pea still working his way up the rankings

1988: Holy unifies all 3 titles at cruiser after crushing DeLeon & then moves up to heavyweight, beating former champion Pinklon Thomas. Pea beats Uncle Roger & Santana then loses a debatable decision vs Ramirez in his 1st world title fight.

1990: Holy beats Dokes, Stewart & then knocks out Douglas to become the undisputed HW champion. Pea beats Haugen to win his 1st world title, then gains revenge over Ramirez to unify. He beats his 1st great opponent (Nelson) & then kayoes Nazario to become the undisputed LW champion.

1992: After beating Foreman, Holmes & the always exciting Cooper Holy loses for the 1st time against Bowe. Pea also defends his undisputed crown 3 times before moving up a division & beating Pineda to win a title in his 2nd weight division.

1994: Holy beats Bowe in a rematch & regains his world titles, he then loses a razor thin decision to Moorer & is diagnosed with serious health problems. Whitaker moves up to welterweight & beats the excellent McGirt to win a world title in his 3rd weight division. Pea beats the great Chavez & then McGirt again.

1996: Out of the ring for a year Holy returns with a win over Mercer, becoming the 1st man to drop him. Holy then loses via stoppage to Bowe in their rubbermatch (again he is suffering from serious health problems) but bounces back to beat Tyson & become HW champion for the 3rd time. Pea beats Vasquez to win a world title in 4 division & goes back down to welterweight, defending his title 4 times including 2 wins over Wilfredo Rivera.

1998: Holy beats Tyson again, wins a rematch vs Moorer in devastating fashion to unify the WBA/IBF titles & defends against the unheralded Vince Bean. Pea defends his WBC title again before losing a debatable decision vs De La Hoya. In his next fight he struggles vs Pestryaev & fails a drug test.

2000-onwards: Pea loses decisively for the 1st time vs Trinidad in his last major fight. Holy loses twice against Lewis but beats Ruiz to win a 4th world title. In 2007 Holy should have become world champion for the 5th time vs the giant Valuev but fails to get the decision he deserves.

 

Any of the 4: Jones, Whitaker, Floyd, Pac are great selections.

Bhop honorable mention

 

Mike Tyson is top 5.

Cleaned out the division so easily , people thought he was fighting bums.

 

Skills? Damn...The Dream and Barry were one of a kind. So was Whitaker. I don't even know where to begin. What's your take? Specifically on Sanders vs. Olajuwon in terms of skill level/all-time skill ranking at their position.

As for the thread, Holyfield is criminally underrated.

 

whitaker has a better resume than floyd mayweather, you dksab

 

That's an awful list. Foreman and Holmes WAY too high, DLH far too low and Mayweather and Pac are both too low aswell. Jones above Duran aswell is meh.

 

I have a real issue with anyone ranking Holyfield at the top.

 

Whitaker

 

I voted Pernell.

The jury is still out on PBF (technically), so if something crazy happens (in a good way resume wise) in Floyd's career before he hangs them up for good, then I may reconsider.

Same goes for JMM.

It's crazy how a few years in boxing can completely change the way you view a thread/subject like this.

 

Remarkable longevity, unique achievements & incredibly tough opposition. Holy is the real deal.

Merry Christmas :hi:

 

Very surprised Hopkins only has 1 vote. I'm sure if this poll was made after his fight against Cloud, the results will be quite different.

 

wouldn't make the slightest difference
hopkins was the second best fighter of his era in an era ruled by roy jones

 

Happy Christmas Mo :good


I'd argue that Holyfield was great, and Pea was special.

You must see that buddy? That extra 0.5% which lifts those who are special just a hairs length above a great?

 

If I have to rate them

1)Whitaker
2)JCC Sr
3)Holy
4)Pac
5)Lewis/Floyd

P.S. I prolly have to find place for RJJ somewhere too.