Riddick Bowe or Mike Tyson Vitali or Wlad Frank Bruno or Lennox Lewis Evander Holyfield or Larry Holmes Sonny Liston or George Foreman
And that's my question, because in my mind Bowe probably would be physically stronger than Tyson. Everyone else I agree. With the other posters.
Evander Holyfield would probably say that Bowe was physically stronger than Tyson and maybe even a harder hitter?
Riddick Bowe or mike Tyson probably Bowe. Hitting/explosive strength has nothing to do with lifting/skeletal strength. No way 5'10 217 pound Tyson is stronger than 6'5 245 pound Bowe. Tyson was very easy to clinch and outmaneuver inside. Vitali or Wlad this one is trickier. Wlad is a better grappler (technique wise) while Vitali might have more raw strength. Theyre both shredded and similar height and weight so it cant be an enormous difference. Frank Bruno or Lennox Lewis my vote goes to Lewis. Vitali and Mercer are the only guys i saw matching him in strength, Lewis is sometimes underrated in this category due to his cautious fighting style. Evander Holyfield or Larry Holmes never gave this one much thought, but id say even. Both guys very scrappy with lean muscle and functional strength. Holyfield simply looks better due to weight lifting but Holmes held his own against big strong guys like Smith, weaver, Mercer, etc. No one ever just rag dolled or overwhelmed Holmes. Sonny Liston or George Foreman Liston had tremendous strength for a man his size, very stocky and hard to push back. Easily top 10. But Foreman is #1 of all time. If nothing else, Foreman had strength for days.
Bowe. Tyson was an explosive puncher but could be tied up and moved around by other top tier fighters. He was strong, but his punching was more impressive than his physical strength at the top level. Vitali...but this is a very tough one. Wouldn't argue against Wlad. They both are very strong but use their strength differently. Holmes. His strength tends to be overlooked and in their fight he was able to muscle with Evander and move him back when he wanted. He apparently wanted to test his strength against Evander's because he even made a comment about being stronger between the 1st and 2nd round in their fight, Foreman. In my opinion he was the strongest of the heavyweight champs. Liston was very, very strong, but George had always been able to out-muscle who he was fighting from the very start of his career up until the end. He pushed enough power houses back to establish himself as the premier strongman of the division in both the 70s and the 90s.
