Who had the better resume, i cant seem to decide. Between the two of them they more or less cleared out the division but who has the better resume?
Holyfield wasted away the latter part of his career, by losing to fighters he would have annhilated in his prime. He has several unflattering losses, which makes his resume less than it could be had he ****ing retired sooner.
I feel missing from Lennoxs resume were Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Michael Moorer and Riddick Bowe......Chris Byrd, Wlad and Ruiz as well, though they came a bit later is there any specific reason as to why lennox never fought holmes, foreman or moorer, these guys were still active round the early 90s
In terms of names Holyfield has an incredible resume, though he has looked bad and lost to fighters he really shouldn't have done. Lewis and Holyfield share quite a lot of opponents but I think Holyfield edges it with his win over Tyson, trilogy with Bowe, Foreman, Douglas, Cooper, Holmes etc. Then some lower-level but still respectable names with the likes of Moorer x2, Ruiz x3, Byrd etc. And thats just looking at his run as a HW.
He beat Holyfield, who beat Foreman, who beat Moorer, so a fight with the latter 2 would not have proved much.
Lewis by far. Better resume, better dominance. Holyfield was a US crowd pleaser, a hero. But for the objective intl. boxing fan Lewis' reign and resume are head and shoulders above Holyfield's. Now if you look at it P4P between the two I would probably consider my opinion, but just by HW resume it is what it is.
Thats true, but he didnt fight Holy until the late 90s i really do wish we coudl have seen Holmes Vs Lewis and Foreman vs Lewis, these kind of matches help answer a few "Prime Vs" questions sometimes
Byrd, Wlad and Ruiz did come a bit later wouldn't have been put in with Lewis at that point. Holmes was sooo past it, its not funny, leaving Lewis with nothing to gain. Foreman? If Holyfield and Tommy Morrison could beat him, Lennox wouldnt have much to gain. Mercer? Dunno. Riddick Bowe? The guy vacated his title and ran rather than face Lewis. Probably the most obvious duck in boxing history!
Holyfield. As heavyweights Lewis's resume is slightly better but Holy also had a fantastic cruiserweight career.
Evander. When adding the CW resume to the HW resume, it's clear for me. HW only might be different. Victories Over Champions: 1. Hasim Rahman (Former IBF, WBC and linear heavyweight champion, future WBC heavyweight champion) 2. John Ruiz (Future 2-time WBA Heavyweight Champion) 3. Michael Moorer (Former WBO Light Heavyweight Champion, Former WBO Heavyweight Champion, Former IBF, WBA and Linear Heavyweight Champion, Then current IBF Heavyweight Champion) 4. Mike Tyson (x2) (HOF, Former WBA, WBC, IBF and Linear Heavyweight Champion, Former Second-time WBC Heavyweight Champion, former second-time WBA heavyweight champion) 5. Mike Tyson (HOF, Former WBA, WBC, IBF and Linear Heavyweight Champion, Former Second-time WBC Heavyweight Champion, and then current WBA heavyweight champion) 6. Bobby Czyz (Former IBF Light Heavyweight Champion and WBA Cruiserweight Champion) 7. Ray Mercer (Former WBO Heavyweight Champion) 8. Riddick Bowe (Former WBC, then current IBF, WBA and linear Heavyweight Champion and future WBO Heavyweight Champion) 9. Larry Holmes (HOF, former WBC, IBF and linear heavyweight champion) 10. George Foreman (HOF, Former WBA, WBC and linear Heavyweight Champion, WBA, IBF and Linear World Champion) 11. James Buster Douglas (Linear/Undisputed/then current WBA, WBC and IBF Heavyweight Champion) 12. Michael Dokes (Former WBA Heavyweight Champion) 13. Pinklon Thomas (Former WBC Heavyweight Champion) 14. Carlos De Leon (Then current and two-time former and future WBC Cruiserweight Champion as well as linear champion of this weight class) 15. Dwight Muhammad Qawi (x2) (HOF, Then former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion and current WBA Cruiserweight Champion) 16. Ossie Ocasio (Former and Inaugural WBA Cruiserweight Champion) 17. Ricky Parkey (Then current IBF Cruiserweight Champion) 18. Dwight Muhammad Qawi (HOF, Then former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion and current WBA Cruiserweight Champion) 19. Tyrone Booze (Then Future WBO Cruiserweight Champion)
I'd say Holyfield, he has an incredible list of names on there over more than one division. Lewis had a better run as champion, but Holyfield as pretty much fought everyone there is to.
Lewis vacated his IBF belt to avoid fighting Byrd He got stripped of his WBA belt because he chose to defend his WBC belt against Grant instead, which is how Ruiz would end up getting it. He claimed he wanted to fight Wlad after he fought Vitali, but decided to retire instead Mercer wanted a rematch True