Is Holyfield THE G.O.A.T?

Agreed. I certainly don't contradict you.

 

The greatest heavyweight of all time for certain. It's indisputable. Look at his resume. No one was won the title as many times as him and no one has beaten as many ATGs as him.

 

Name 5 heavyweights who are better than him.

Before you say Ali, Ali didn't win the title as many times as him even if Ali fought competition as good. And really who else would you put over him other than Ali?

 

I will alwyays maintain that Ali was the greatest heavyweight of all time,and not just because I'm a fan of his. His record and abilities speak for themselves.

I have Holyfield in the lower reachs of my all time top 10 heavies. Along with Lewis and Tyson.

 

Yes he has a case and much better than some fighters some people rank as no1

He faced tougher opposition than any HW in history - Ali/Louis and whoever

He has beaten more lineal champions than anyone - Tyson, Bowe, Moorer, Douglas, Foreman, Holmes, Rahman

Holyfield was 30, an 8year pro and 6years of world championship boxing before picking up his first loss, against a H2H monster in Bowe, avenging his 1 loss a year later using different tactics. Then lost again to Bowe when past his best but he was 33 and suffering from illness. He is 1-2 against Bowe past his best BUT Ali is 1-2 against Norton past his best, can Ali not be the GOAT either?? What about Louis who is effectively only 1-1 against Schmelling and Walcott?

His initial title run only lasted 2 years but he had fought top level HWs from 88 onwards, which makes it a 4year run at the top, which is comparable to Marciano's time facing ranked contenders and ex champs like Thomas and Dokes

Up until his 37th birthday he had beaten every man he'd faced the best, opposition including Tyson, Bowe, Moorer, Douglas, Foreman, Pinklon Thomas, Dokes, Mercer.

For the LEwis fights he was 37, but still gave a very good account of himself in both fights against 1 of the best H2H monsters in history. He was pretty much done after this but good enough to beat champions like Rahman, Ruiz and Valuev

HE deserved to regain the WBA title against Valuev at the age of 46, which would make him the oldest HW champ in history, 22 years after winning his first world title

This is all ignoring his unification of the cruserweight division, fighters the same size Marciano, Johnson, Louis and Dempsey were beating

 

He's a great fighter but not a great champion.

90-92 and then 96-99.

A cumulative 5 years but no real period of dominance.

 

You both make good points. I tend to lean in the direction Of Lufcrazy's, but as PP points out Holy still has a better case than many others that gets rated abnormally high by some, be they Foreman, Tyson, Liston or Dempsey.

 

that's a damn fine argument brother. i think you could make a place for holyfield anywhere on the top 10 with this...

 

:good Exactly

 

To win the title that many times, you have to lose it that many times.

I have him around number 8 on my list of heavies, below Tyson. Holyfield never put a reign of terror on the division as Tyson did from 86 to 89.

 

I got him at #8 among HW champs. His fights brought as much excitement to my youth as Joe Louis did to JG's and Burt's.

The Evan Fields thing bothers me. Even so I believe that when it comes to being a serious man on serious earth, Holyfield was what Tyson pretended and wished he was.

 

tyson lewis and holyfield are the greatest
for me bowe beat ali,luis by knock out,vs luis unter 5 rounds
PERIOD

 

Well, one thing is for sure, he isn't better than Riddick Bowe. But he is a great fighter.

 

would you rank bowe higher p4p? all time heavy? h2h is the only place i see bowe having an advantage

 

Greater?

Ali, Louis, Holmes, Maricano, Lewis, Tyson, Johnson.

Winning the title 5 times means you are the kind of fighter that plays hot potato with the belts as soon as you win them.

Joe Louis won the title once and frankly that's all he needed during his 12 YEAR REIGN with 25 TITLE DEFENSES.

Being a 5 time world champion impressive to the extent that he managed to get the title back but it means he's found a way to lose it several times.