Is Lewis' resume really much better than Mike's?

Mike beat and faced better versions of many of Lewis’s best wins, but it’s how they exited the sport that shapes perception. Mike’s career ended in trainwreck fashion in a sport he should have left long ago, while Lewis’s come from behind win against Vitali whom would go on and have a good career elevates Lewis with a classic exit from the game.

 

What really good fighters did Mike beat? Lewis beat almost all and reversed the only 2 he lost. You going to fault him because the other guys weren’t at their ultimate peaks? Not his fault. He beat them all Tyson Holyfield Klitchco Briggs Golota Morrison Rahman.

 

I don't agree with the Holmes/Holyfield comparison.

Yeah they were similar ages but Holyfield was considered the number 1 Heavyweight in the world. And had some of his best wins of his career in the late 90s vs Tyson, Moorer.

If Tyson had beaten an older Holmes who was still active and a champion then yes I'd agree with you.

But since Holmes was coming off 2 losses and a bit of lay off and was no longer champion. Then objectively the Holyfield win is better overall I don't see how it can't be honestly.


Lewis's resume

Mike Tyson
Evander Holyfield
Vitali Klitschko
David Tua
Razor Ruddock
Frank Bruno
Oliver McCall
Tony Tucker
Tommy Morrison
Ray Mercer
Hasim Rahman
Andrew Golota
Shannon Briggs
Henry Akiwande
Michael Grant
Gary Mason
Tyrell Biggs

16 world title wins.


Mike Tyson

Larry Holmes
Michael Spinks
Razor Ruddock x2
Trevor Berbick
Tony Tucker
Tyrell Biggs
Pinklon Thomas
Bonecrusher Smith
Tony Tubbs
Frank Bruno x2
Carl Williams
Bruce Seldon

12 world title wins.

It's not a grand canyon difference no but beating Vitali in his prime and beating Holyfield who was considered number 1 Heavyweight even if he was past his prime.

Give Lewis a significant edge IMO.

Along with overall Lewis having an edge in world title wins a better list of names overall and a cleaner record also.

 

I still have to give the edge to Lewis with his wins over Tua, Vitali, McCall, Rahman, Briggs, Morrison and Mercer even though a strong argument can be made Mercer could just as easily deserved the win. Tyson's win over Spinks is underrated too. Overall, Tyson had a greater impact on the sport.

 

Lewis has him covered comfortably, but Tyson can very much get underrated. His short body of work was eye opening while it lasted.

 

I agree with that. And Tyson fans bring up Holmes like they don't even know what ring rust means.

 

I'm partial to the belief Holmes wasn't as badly affected as some claim. He was certainly well past prime but i don't believe latter versions were any better. At the end of the day Tyson at that stage was going to knock him out. Holmes showed good savvy and experience fending him off as long as he did.

 

With respect Holmes did not look so good there, & his performances were sometimes better when older mostly because he was so much better trained & honed in fights.
Like even though Foreman was older when fighting Morrison & Holyfield than starting his comeback, he was (in this case much) better.

I have heard Holmes was afraid against Tyson, he looked overwhelmed early, & although he avoided a KO for a few rounds, not many...he was not winning rounds.

I also do not believe that peak Holmes likely beats the best Tyson.
Styles & Tyson's speed would be decisive.
Maybe Holmes could last a lot longer. Or mixing it up would get him out at least as fast.
But how well each at their primes would match up is debatable.

But Holmes wanted & did not get a decent training camp length, when totally inactive for a long time.
He just took the cash The Monster King seduced him with.
STILL a quite good Tyson victory, especially how he did it.
But I think not as good as others who were trained & active, such as Thomas, Biggs, Tucker, Tubbs, Spinks.

 

You have their wins a bit mixed up. Ruddock x2 should be for Tyson with only one Ruddock win for Lewis as well as only one Bruno win for Lewis.

And if you're including Mason, Biggs and Briggs as solid wins for Lewis we should probably include Tillis, Green, Ribalta, Frazier, Botha, Golota and even Etienne for Tyson. You can add Botha to Lewis's resume as well.

Not much separates Tyson and Lewis except for the way they ended careers. Tyson was also undisputed for longer than Lewis was.

 

Tyson beat about 15 guys who would humble Briggs so including Briggs as one of LL's best wins is really reaching. Why didn't you include Mercer?

 

Lewis, and fairly comfortably I would say. Lewis' best win was Vitali when he was older, not older Holyfield, and I'd pick Vitali over a prime Mike. There's guys not mentioned on the Lewis roster above like Botha who were basically beating Mike down for a large portion of their fight, who Lewis disposed of with ease.

 

For mine it's as simple as Holmes looking "better" at other times because he wasn't fighting peak Tyson. Tyson was absolutely peak and brought insane power, speed and angles to the dance.

He certainly looked intimidated for what it's worth.

Yeah i agree best for best Tyson holds the aces.

How he achieved the victory was indeed eye opening. Holmes was still incredibly hard to get out of there as witnessed by his subsequent fights.

 

Mason was 35-0 a very big puncher and was actually a slight betting favourite over Lewis at the time.

I think that win is more eye catching than beating the likes of Green, Ribalta, which is just filler rather than real notable wins on Tyson's resume.

Even though I think Briggs is a bit overrated he is a 2 world champion so that's why I included him instead of some other names on Tyson's resume.

But yes a few other filler names on Tyson's resume could be included but I don't think it makes that much of a difference honestly.

I didn't include Golota because it's not officially a win for Tyson it goes down as a no contest in the record books.

I do think there is a clear separation between the two it's not a huge one but it's still quite a clear one.

Lewis has 16 world title wins and overall was a champion for 7 years combined

Compared to 12 world title wins for Tyson who was a champion for 5 years combined.

Lewis actually beat Tyson in a H2H match up yes Tyson was more past it than Lewis. But Lewis would also retire after 1 more fight aswell.

Lewis beat Holyfield who Tyson lost to twice arguably the best Heavyweight they both fought.

Lewis retired on a high with one of the best wins of his career against Vitali where as Tyson's end to his career was a quite a sad one.

I think Lewis beating Holyfield, Vitali, and Tyson himself when you compare their best wins is enough to give Lewis a clear edge.

Aswell as the advantages Lewis has in world title wins plus better longevity.