Looking back at Axel Schulz. Is it fair to say he is a top 10 HW's from the 90's?

:rofl

 

now i remember why i put you on my ignore list

 

The problem I have in ranking the top heavyweights of the 1990's is that there are too many who missed a great portion of the decade. Mike Tyson went to prison, and was out of the ring for 4 years, from 1991-1995. Riddick Bowe burnt out, and did not fight in 1997, 1998, or 1999. George Foreman and Michael Moorer retired, and did not fight in 1998 or 1999 (although Moorer later returned). Shannon Briggs and Andrew Golata did not start fighting until 1992. The Klitschko brothers did not start fighting until late in the decade.

How am I supposed to unbiasedly rank these fighters, when they were not even there for a good part of the decade?

 

Schultz deserved to be in top ten................he sure kicked Foreman's arse!!!

 

If that's a criteria for being top 10 in the 90s then you are setting the bar awfully low. I mean Alex Stewart beat up George Foreman. Does that make him top 10?

Schulz has no business in the top 10 of the entire decade on the basis of what he did to a 47 year old George Foreman.

 

Great post, and sums up my thoughts on the 90s. It's misleading when people just bust out the names of everyone who happened to have a fight scheduled that decade, it doesn't paint an accurate portrait of what we as fight fans actually experienced in that decade.

Tyson had maybe 2 significant years total where he was an active player.

 

True but you could argue Tyson has wins over Ruddockx2, Stewart, Bruno, Seldon, Botha, Savarese and Golota in the decade so he does deserve some credit.

Holyfield and Lennox are head and shoulders above the rest though

 

Tyson did get some serious business done in 91 and 96, respectfully. Than you have the suspensions and the odd Showtime fight with someone like Botha or Norris.

Savarese and Golota were the 2000 comeback, that also got cut short to a suspension, shame, he was looking good in those two fights. Better than he would against Nielsen and Lewis.

 

Axel Schulz doesn't belong in the top ten for the decade, maybe top 15, he did defeat Foreman on my card and Botha both in close fights. I had Moorer defeating him 7-5 on my card and cleanly, meaning I couldn't find a swing round to make it a draw. So if he had gotten the benefit of the doubt by the judges his career would be quite respectable. Certainly a solid win on Wlad's ledger. A very underrated win.
I do believe though that his performance against Foreman truly demonstrated how much George had slipped. Moorer dominated his fight until the KO and Schulz repeated that in the next fight he just got off to a slightly slower start, but didn't get caught in the end. Foreman lucked out against an overly confident Moorer. Foreman's best performance of his comeback was against Holyfield.

 

Schulz got not one, not two but three (!) title shots in the 90s. That should speak volumes about the quality of the division in that era.