Holyfield and Lewis both had pretty impressive resumes, Holyfield a little more impressive as a champion because of his size disadvantage.
I never buy into that kind of logic. Berbick beat Ali, who beat Frazier and Foreman. So Berbick is greater than Ali, Frazier and Foreman.
Holyfield. you add the cruiserweight wins on top of his victories over Tyson and Bowe, you have a good looking resume. The Bowe win is better then anything Lewis acomplished IMO.
Lewis by a wide margin. Holyfield's ATG status come from being the best cruiser ever plus a very good HW, but he wasn't a dominant HW champion like Lewis. Holyfield is 1 - 2 against Bowe, 1 - 1 against Moorer (and only beat the fat version), 1- 1- 1 against Ruiz and should be 0 - 2 against Lewis. Over multiple fights against the same opponent, he only has a winning record against Tyson. He has a low KO ratio for a HW champ, few really dominant wins over elite opponents in shape. Lewis dominated against most opponents he faced.
Holyfield has Moorer and Bowe who Lewis never fought he also has 2 scalps over a way better version of Tyson than Lewis fought also. :deal
Holyfield may have more losses but better resume IMO. I even include Valuev in the list. Besides he's much more likable.
Holyfield. He fought most of the lesser guys Lewis fought AND he has victories over a prime Bowe and a still dangerous Tyson, who were two of the other greatest fighters of the era. The only comparable fighters Lewis fought were Holyfield himself and Tyson, both of whom were way past their best when Lewis fought them. Of course, he didn't fight Bowe at all.
Holyfield has some great wins at two weights. But Lewis's HW resume is a thing of beauty. Full of top contenders, titlists, champions and legends. He beat the best guy that came before him in Holyfield, and the best guy that came after in Vitali - what more can you ask?