Of these 3 prime for prime who was best.

Don't agree.

I find very little to split them really, P4P.

H2H Lewis every day of the week.

 

Lewis managed to not fight any of the top 5 fighters in his own era during their primes. Not a very impressive statistic.

 

I had neither fight that wide, especially the second one - for me there was only a couple of rounds in it.

 

Lewis's heavyweight resume far eclipses all those other guys. Holyfield and Bowe only fought eachother in their prime and Holyfield, the higher esteemed one lost 2 of 3 and was on his way to losing the 2nd fight until the fan man incident changed momentum. Bowe did nothing beyond beating Holyfield. Tyson's resume isn't weak at all, but he doesn't hold any wins over the top heavyweights of his era.

 

H2H Lewis every day of the week - agree

Can't split them p4p - disagree, I give Holyfield the edge, close but clear (I think I had Holyfield something like 34th in my p4p top 100, Lewis 36th or 38th or something like that)

 

IMO, Lewis's peak year was 2000, Holyfield's hw peak was around 92-93

 

Lewis altough Tyson and Evander are there.

 

Holyfield's biggest wins at Heavy:

2nd Bowe fight (but he lost the trilogy)
Buster Douglas - was unmotivated and out of shape
Post-Prison Tyson
Mercer - good win, but not great....Lewis also holds a win over him
Old and Fat Holmes and Old and Fat Foreman

He lost to Moorer in his prime also.

Lewis fought all the hungry, up and coming fighters of his era and beat them. He also fought the legends of his era and beat them too. He also holds a "W" over Vitali.

 

Well....

There isn't a lot between 34th & 36th!

If Holy had quit after the poor trilogy with Ruiz, I would probably have him above Lewis (just P4P) but given that he has lost to some bum fighters (by comparison) hurt him slightly.

Obviously this should detract from how good he was at his peak, but when you have some guys that get out at the right time, and others which just embarrass themselves......

 

There isn't a lot between 34th and 36th, but one is higher than the other.

We disagree on the point about losses, for me they genuinely and completely do not affect all-time p4p standings at all.

 

1. Lewis ( Beat everyone he faced , reigned supreme for years )
2. Tyson ( One of the most feared men in boxing history , undisputed champ for an era )
3. Holyfield ( Beat Tyson, yeah and Bowe once, but best years were at CW )
4. Bowe ( ****ed his career right up, shat out a Lewis fight )

 

Lewis does have a better hw resume, but I don't know why you have to degrade Holyfield's wins to make that point, it's unnecessary and ignorant.

 

went for Holyfield as this is not a greatest heavyweight or who comes out on top head to head but who was the better boxer and in my opinion it is Holyfield, seeing as he was a former cruiserweight and such a small heavy too. Was hard to decide between him and Lewis though, after re watching some fights my opinion could change.

 

prime iron mike takes this for me...i would have gone for lewis if not for his suspect chin...

 

Why "but his best years were at CW" - the thread isn't asking for who was the best hw mate, it just asks who was the best boxer at his peak. IMO, Holyfield was a marginally better cw than Lewis was a hw, so the answer for me is Holyfield.