Prime for prime, best heavyweight ever - head to head

Age and record has nothing to do with it. You can see Tyson wasn't the same because he abandoned the head movement and was more open to being picked-off from range, which is exactly what Buster did. He had already split from Rooney by then and got involved with King.

I would agree though that Tyson isn't the one to pick here. He's differently over-rated nowadays, mainly because he's an enigma and we never saw a real prime Tyson beaten, though he may of been had he fought a prime Ali, Holmes, Lewis etc.

 

:deal :good

 

prime mike tyson is the first one to pop in my head when it comes to "prime-for-prime-head-to-head"... ali, and lennox are great choices too.

 

Ali

 

I feel foreman has a good chance to stop Lennox. Of course both times Lennox was stopped he was underprepared but at the same time Foreman is 10x more of a beast than those guys, if anyone is KOing Lennox its foreman.


At the same time, Ali was the perfect guy to beat foreman (I say that with the advantage of heinsite). George was great at cutting off the ring and Ali had great movement and speed to counter that. He also had a solid chin.


Ali - lennox would be a good fight a real chess match. Lennox has a combination of height, reach, power and skills that Ali never seen. But Ali has a good chance at using his movement and speed and out boxing Lennox. Dont forget Ali had very long arms so I think their reach is almost the same give or take an inch or two.

 

You just can't just pick and choose which fight a fighter has in his prime to decide whether he is great or not. You have to prove yourself over a long period through good times and bad, like Holmes or Ali.

Fact is Tyson got beat in his prime years and it matters not whether he was mentally right; the true greats are focused and determined with a huge will to win in the face of adversity, something Tyson never proved.

He was seriously flawed both technically and mentally; Ali, Holmes and the others would have exploited this to take a victory.

Time to draw a line under this now and discuss something relevant atsch

Legion - Life is **** and then you die.

 

What are you even talking about? The question is prime-for-prime. Therefore it's the primeist version of any HW, and a prime Tyson would be 86/87, not 1990.

 

Prime Tyson obliterates any heavyweight and eats their children.

 

Firstly, I wasn't trying to ignore Schmeling II or Walcott II. These were his most impressive wins of his career if you ask me. You know, well maybe you don't know, but any fan with a handful of knowledge knows that Joe Louis should've lost his first fight with Jersey Joe. To me, this makes Louis ever greater for coming back to knock Walcott out in their rematch. You have misunderstood me in some areas here, quite badly. I give Mr. Louis a lot of credit for his great career. But, most of his defenses were against B, C and even D level opposition.

Secondly, I would like to inform you that I have seen plenty of footage of Joe Louis. I have so many of his fights and have seen just about every one recorded.

Thirdly, I should correct myself a little bit here. Joe Louis did have fast hands. When I say that he is slow, I mean his movement. Joe moved foward like a statue being pushed around the ring. His hands stayed in the same position until he threw them.

Another thing, I was not comparing the styles of George Foreman and Joe Louis, period. Any fool can see that they are two completely different fighters. What I said was Muhammad Ali once referred to Louis as someone who fights like a mummy. He also said the same about George. That doesn't mean that they are the same kind of mummies. Like I said, Joe moved foward slowly and kept his hands in the same position. He stalked his opponents in that way. Joe Louis looks great against other flat-footed fighters, like Jim Braddock. The same Jim Braddock that knocked Joe down with a single, short shot, the same Joe who according to you "doesn't have a shaky chin". Other flat-footed fighters Joe had success with are Galento, who also dropped Joe, Buddy Baer, Carnera, Sharkey, Schmeling II etc. Guys who moved gave Joe trouble, period.

As far as who could beat who in the all-time conversation....well, neither you, me or anyone else can actually prove our theories here. So let's not waste too much of our time talking about this. Could Joe Louis beat Jack Dempsey? I think so. Could Joe beat a prime Tyson? I seriously doubt it. Can I physically prove that to you? No. But as far as really superior boxers go, like Ali and Holmes, man you can't tell me you think Louis could beat those guys. Ali was bigger and better than Conn. Imagine Joe Louis in there with Lennox Lewis. Obviously what comes to my mind differs greatly from that which comes to your mind. But were men here, we can agree to disagree.

Lastly, what did you think of HBO's Joe Louis betrayed? I personally like it very much. Anyway, I can see that you are determined, so hit me back whenever you feel strong tough guy.:bbb

 

Holyfield and perhaps Vitali even though I don't like him all that much. Since nobody ever has beaten him, he must be one of the best ever.

But pound or pound it's Holyfield.

 

Personally i have to say i agree with this.

I am a huge Tyson fan and love watching his highlights reel but imo the likes of prime Lewis would beat a Prime Tyson 9 times out of 10. Tyson was a whirlwind pressure fighter with a very fragile mind.

The guy was great to watch and dominated the very limited era he fought 'prime' in (albeit his prime was only a couple of years) but his skills are some times over rated

 

:happy guy talks sense.

Any my answer to the thread.

Best HW of all time is Ali
H2H - Lewis.

 

He was a tremendous counter-puncher, a fantastic master of distance, made guys miss just a little bit, then came in with two-three, short, ripping, accurate and hard shots that put the lights out. His subtle skills were awesome.

 

Agreed!! And the sad fact is that we probably never saw Ali at the zenith of his powers, due to his enforced absence!!

 

Lewis beat Klitschko!! Why the **** do people try to take that hard-earned victory away from Lennox by saying "Lewis only won because Klitschko got cut?" It was Lewis' fists which caused the horrific injuries that lead to Klitschko being stopped!! Vitali fought well, but he was stopped ffs!!

Prime Vitali would be a nightmare h2h for a lot of the AGT's but "Prime" Lewis beats him comfortably and "Prime" Ali would have made him look silly.

As for Holyfield, well he is a ATG and i've been a fan of his for years! I believe that he would have been competitive against almost every heavyweight in history but for me, Ali is "The Greatest" heavyweight ever.

I rank Bob Fitzsimmons quite some way above Holyfield on my p4p list, so imo Bob "Trumps" Evander.