Is Evander Holyfield underrated?

I somewhat contest his wins over Mike Tyson being void because the latter was past his prime. I'm not going to pretend the Tyson that Holyfield faced was the same that knocked out Spinks. He was still good enough to be WBA champion and WBC champion (if he wasn't stripped for fighting Bruce Seldon iirc).

'88 Tyson stands a decent shot of beating Holyfield, but I still think the Real Deal deserves credit for the '96 and '97 wins.

 

Evan didn't beat prime Mike, but there's a reason why Mike was a big favourite at the time. Evan was considered washed before the fight and whilst clearly not '88, nobody was really looking at Evan like someone that would somewhat intimidate Mike by refusing to cede ground.

 

A Well crafted high IQ fighter with a blood & guts mentality.. his list of opponents is ridiculous .. Tyson X2, Lewis X2, Moorer X2, Ruiz X3, Bowe X3, Qawi X2, Dokes, DeLeon, Foreman, Douglas, Holmes, Mercer, Rahman, Byrd, Toney.. he lost a few but overall his career was remarkable.. hes a top 50 all time fighter for me.

 

I think he is underrated. Of course, the doping issue follows him around, but that was commonplace in his era—it’s hard to say who was actually clean back then. Some argue that doping isn't the most critical factor in boxing and doesn't provide the same level of advantage as it does in other sports. It’s well known that Roy Jones used performance-enhancing drugs too, yet that is rarely mentioned.

Holyfield fought for many years at the highest level. He didn't suffer any embarrassing losses like those of Purrity, McCall, Young, or Marshall. He achieved magnificent victories. He faced Tyson when the latter was past his prime. Even when clearly past his own prime, he fought a competitive bout against a prime Lennox Lewis—whose style was a bad matchup for him and who holds a significant edge in rankings, especially fan-generated ones. No one in heavyweight history, aside from Ali, has fought as many big names—and remember, Holyfield started out as a cruiserweight. I believe he is usually ranked lower than he deserves.