Top 10 HW since 1986

No particular order:
Mike Tyson
Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis
Wlad Klitschko
Vitali Klitschko
Tyson Fury
Anthony Joshua
Deontay Wilder
George Foreman
Riddick Bowe

 

Mercer wasn't lineal, though.

Yeah, I'll swap Rahman out for Sanders.

However, Mercer may have been better than both, but he didn't achieve as much. Too patchy in his prime, and didn't get the Lewis win like he could've.

 

Lewis
Holyfield
Wlad/Tyson
Fury
Bowe
Joshua
Vitali
Byrd
Wilder
Foreman

Just missed out : Moorer, Povetkin, Douglas, Ruiz, Foreman, Rahman, Sanders, Haye, Ruiz jr., Mercer

 

Mercer was a tough WBO Champ back then. I suppose his win column is lesser than impressive, so I'll gladly concede to you omission

Good ol WBO ranking system back then.

 

In order of year

Larry Holmes
Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Evander Holyfield
Riddick Bowe
Tommy Morrison
Vitali Klitschko
Wlad Klitschko
Anthony Joshua
Tyson Fury

 

the IMO easy 5 picks are: Lewis, Tyson, Wlad, Vitali, Fury.

next I'll pick Bowe [though honestly I'm giving him more credit for a single performance - Holyfield I - than I did for a lot of other guys like say Andy Ruiz or Mercer, even Buster Douglas, who rose to a big occasion once or twice]

then Holyfield - never looked impregnable & was no doubt by far the worst drugs cheat on my list but, still, an exceptional competitor.

the last three... are much harder to pick. i'll go with Anthony Joshua and, partly just to pick a couple of different names Tim Witherspoon [though in fairness by 1986 there were only a few drops of his best form left - i almost went with 90s Foreman, only partly for sentimental reasons], and Tony Tucker, who I really rated.

 

Lewis
Holyfield
Wlad
Tyson
Bowe
Vitali
Fury
Byrd
Joshua
Tua

 

Lewis
Holyfield
Tyson
Wlad
Vitali
Fury
Bowe
Foreman
Joshua
Byrd

 

1. Dustin Nichols (Wilder fight)
2. Tyson Fury
3. Wlad Klitschko
4. Dustin Nichols (Suggi Foxx fight)
5. Mike Tyson
6. Audley Harrison
7. Holyfield
8. Old Dustin Nichols (Brewer fight)
9. Dustin Nichols (Diabetes fight)
10. Dustin Nichols (Heart disease fight)

 

1. Wlad
2. Lewis
3. Holyfield
4. Tyson
5. Vitali
6. Fury
7. Joshua
8. Bowe
9. Povetkin
10. Byrd
11. Chagaev
12. Brewster
13. Peter
14. Ruiz
15. Rahman

 

1. Lewis
2. Hollyfield
3. Tyson
4. Wlad
5. AJ
6. Fury
7. Bowe
8 vitali
9. Ike Ibeabuchi
10. This is were it gets hard to call and close between the likes of Golota, Mercer, Tua and Povetkin for the final spot.

 

Good List...

 

George Foreman and Deontay Wilder aren't getting much love in this thread.

Wilder was WBC champ for five years and has one loss. George Foreman, the oldest man to regain the title, is probably the most famous living heavyweight champion.

Ruslan Chagaev? Chris Byrd? Henry Akinwande? Herbie Hide? Ray Mercer? LOL. Did you guys actually follow boxing from 1986 to 2020?

Byrd's two big wins came over guys who tore their rotator cuffs. Vitali tore his and quit. Holyfield tore his in the FIRST round, didn't quit, and just fought one handed for 11 rounds. Otherwise, Byrd was barely eaking out decisions all over the place.

It's like someone praising Charles Martin for the Czar Glazkov "win." Only Byrd won BOTH his belts on injuries.

 

I can't understand the logic in having Wilder ahead of Mercer. Mercer best win (Morrison) is far more impressive than than Wilder's best win ( Ortiz). Even beating a 38 year old Witherspoon (Mercer was 35 at the time) is more impressive than beating Ortiz. Also Mercer gave Lewis a good, tough close fight.

 

You can't understand the logic of having a WBC heavyweight champion with 10 succcessful title defenses and a five year reign over a guy who held a WBO belt for a handful of months, tried to bribe a journeyman to throw a fight because he was losing, needed a gift draw to get past Marion Wilson?

Michael Bentt knocked out Tommy Morrison, too. And faster. Who cares?

And beating Tim Witherspoon is better than beating Ortiz? Hell, people at the time were outraged Mercer got the decision over Witherspoon. Do you remember that? How is a controversial decision over Witherspoon better than knocking down the #4 contender three times and stopping him twice?

This ridiculous bias against Wilder is just stupid. Seriously.