You have Vitali Klit over Mike Tyson? Tyson would have murdered Vitali in less than 6 rounds had they fought prime to prime. He also has a far better resume than Vitali. He also established himself as THE MAN in the division, while Vitali never did.
top 10 heavyweights of course. His reign was not great, but no worse than say Duran's at lightweight or maybe better since he did beat Holmes, yet an older Holmes.
Holmes went undefeated thru 48 fights... 21 of them being HW World title fights. Tyson went undefeated thru 37 fights... 10 of them being HW World Title fights. Holmes went undefeated for 12 1/2 years. Tyson went undefeated for a little less than 5 years. I fail to see many similarities. Sure, some common opponents but Holmes got the wins years before Tyson did. Holmes beat Berbick in '81 (W15), Smith in '84 (KO12), and Williams in '85 (W15). He lost 2 questionable decisions to M. Spinks ('85 and '86) and lost a decision to Holyfield (age 42 1/2). Tyson beat Berbick in '86 (KO2), Smith in '86 (W12), Williams in '89 (KO1), and M. Spinks in '88 (KO1).He lost to Holyfield twice (LKOby11 and LDQ3). They both fought Jose Ribalta as well, but who cares? Tyson KO10 in '86. Holmes W10 in '93.
I don't get too serious on these lists... any resume can be picked apart. You can look at almost any notable fighters resume and say that during a certain period... he was "The Man". From 11/1987 - 2/1990 Buster Douglas went 7-0 (5) beating the likes of Berbcik, McCall, and Tyson. During this time he was the greatest HW ever!!!! If you believe that, I'll tell ya another one.
Yes, you could make a strong case for Mike being top 10. A very impressive career despite its short comings.
I rank him 12! I could see him rated as high as 7 (although I dont) and have no issue with it...anything higher is likely a fan boy or former cell mate who is blinded by the good ole days.
The ones I have clearly above Tyson is Ali, Louis, Marciano, Lewis, Johnson and Holmes. Tyson competes with Frazier, Liston, Wills, Foreman and Holyfield for the remaining four. Walcott and Dempsey are peeking in as well. It's very close, hard to say.
My top 10 in order - Ali,Louis,Holmes,Foreman,Frazier,Liston,Johnson,Tyson,Lewis and Holyfield. As I mentioned on an earlier post,I keep changing my mind about the order I place the last three in.