How would you rate Holyfield?

what do people think of his steriod use? Does it affect ur ranking of him?

 

Easily top ten. I find it strange you are so sure he used steroids based on one report and nothing else.

 

i am not saying i am sure, i am just curious if he did use them would his ranking be affected in most peoples eyes?

 

top 10... at least...

 

I'm surprised u dont think he used steroids.Hes got to be the most blatant case ever after the first bowe encounter maybe before.His shoulders looked huge

 

For me it doesn't. The reason for that is because it's a grey area. While i don't doubt he was on roids, he never proved positive during any of his bouts during his prime. So, judging him based merely on "he likely did it" is unfair in my opinion, especially when it's very well possible that his opponents used them as well.

Would Frans Botha, James Toney or Tommy Morrison have been labled "steroid users for sure" the way Holyfield has been, if they had never been caught? I don't think so.... and that means that for all we know, the entire heavyweight division from the 70's up to today may have been on them.

The bottomline is: we can't be sure who used and who didn't. I don't think it's fair to single out Holyfield while the likes of Tyson, Lewis, Bowe, etc, may just as well have used them.

And to extend that point..... if they're ALL on it, is it still cheating? Since you hold no advantage over your opponents i don't think it is - in an all-time ranking sense that is - it's still against the rules and as such, cheating. But then again, the rules never caught them, so it's not cheating. ... I love having monologues.

 

No. (edit: this ranking of greats is a silly business anyway)

It is remarkable,though,how a cruiserweight became a legitimate heavyweight,late in his career isn't it ?

 

Somewhere between 8-12. I think the fact that he was never dominant goes against him a bit. He suited the underdog tag more at the top heavyweight level.