Top 10 HWs of 90s

michael moorer? Who’s to say Holmes wouldn’t beat him? Moorer couldn’t even get by Botha or Shultz without an immense struggle.

Holmes won 3-4 rounds against Holyfield, about the same as foreman

a shutout… forgivable? Talk about letting a guy off the hook for a wide unanimous decision loss to a glass jawed fighter (who couldn’t carry Tyson’s jock strap). Speaking of which why did foreman get a title shot vs Moorer coming off a horrendous loss?

 

Foreman scored more points when you add them up even though he had a point deducted. But Holmes was trying to win the decision Foreman was trying to tire Holyfield out for a late knockout. A tie is the same point.

Foreman did get the shot on name recognition coming off a loss. Foremans SOS and resume was much better than Holmes in their 2nd careers Holmes beat Mercer and Ferguson and no one else of note Foreman had like about 10 notable non title wins. Going into their 2nd title shots Foreman II was 27-2 with 25 KOs, Holmes II was 13-1 with 6. They both got 2 title shots out of those records.

It was a fight Foreman could have won if it was 15. Also it was not a shutout. Taking the point deduction into account Foreman won 3 rounds on 2 of the scorecards including the last one. 9-3 or 10-2 fight. So yes its a forgiveable loss albeit the worst points loss of Foremans career.

 

Without knockdowns I don't see that happening. If Tyson doesn't have a lead midway through the fight hes screwed and he probably won't. Tysons style required a lead if his opponent survived the early rounds and the one time he seemingly successfully put out a fire he got knocked out by Buster Douglas. Foreman can hit harder than Tyson and in 95-97 when his power was seemingly gone he still had size, durability and a quarter century of experience.

Foreman knocked down Stewart early too. He just didn't finish the job early and didn't need to. Tyson did.

The difference between Savarese/Stewart and Foreman is Tyson could go in overwhelm them early. Foreman that is unlikely to happen because of Foremans durability and because hes a better fighter. And if it doesn't Tyson is screwed just like he was with Holyfield. Tysons intimidation also fueled his early stops made fighters give up instead of trying to rally despite that being Tysons big weakness. While those guys see Tyson Foreman is looking at a more aggressive Floyd Patterson.

 

1. Holyfield
2. Lewis
3. Bowe
4. Tyson
5. Foreman
6. Moorer
7. Ibeabuchi
8. Mercer
9. Tua
10. McCall

HM; Morrison, Ruddock, Bruno

Feel kind of silly having Foreman at #5 but him giving Holyfield a decent fight + beating Moorer means he is up there.

Even though Ibeabuchi only has 2 notable wins, those 2 wins are extraordinary. H2H, i would also pick him over at least 2 of the guys ranked above him. But given how he self imploded, i can't have him higher.

 

1. Holyfield - despite being a cheater was the best. He gave Lewis more trouble than he should have in fight 2 which leads me to believe prime Holyfield beats Lewis

2. Tyson - this includes his 4 comeback fights after being KOed in the early 90s. After prison I still think he was the 2nd best Heavyweight.

3. Bowe - beat evander twice who was the nr1

4. Lewis - overrated fighter. His best win was Vitali which was really really great. Its just due to him fighting old Holyfield and Tyson his record is hollow. He also priced himself out of fights so he only has himself to blame

the rest I dont know

 

Tyson had a fairly average 1990's, beat Bruno in Frank's last fight, Ruddock twice and a few tier 2 wins. Botha, etc and losses to Douglas and Holyfield. That doesn't really separate him from he pack behind Lewis, Holy and Bowe? Mercer defeated Damiani. Morrison, Witherspoon. Some tier 2 wins, close losses to Holyfield and Lewis and a poor defeat by Holmes. McCall beat Lewis, Damiani, Maskaev and Holmes with close defeats to Norris and Tucker. Poor performance against Bruno, the Ferguson debacle and in the Lewis return. Lots of depth in the 90' after the top 3, hard to pick a top 10 or 20.

 

Holyfield should unquestionnably be the number one.
Undisputed champion during 2 years (none of the others managed to hold the title that long), epic trilogy with Bowe, his formidable wins against Tyson and Moorer are among the highlights of the entire decade. He was able to go to the distance against a prime Lewis while in clear decline.
Also had the most exciting fights where he showed his tremendous chin, courage and heart.

At the second place, I'm torn between Bowe and Lewis. I would slightly favour Lewis since he ended the decade in a better fashion by becoming the undisputed champion. He amassed a very good amount of wins against mostly quality opponents, but lost badly to McCall, a quite good but erratic heavyweight.

Bowe had all the tools, but lacked the dedication required to stay at the top. He started the decade well (considering the lack of faith in him), beating 80's ex-champs (Thomas/Tubbs) or contenders (Seldon/Biggs/Cooper/Coetzer) and reached his pinnacle when he won the title in one of the best heavyweight fight ever versus a prime Holyfield. Nonetheless, he would quickly lose it after two easy defences, against his nemesis Holyfield on a razor thin decision.
That only loss was followed by a nice run of unbeaten opponents, punctuated by the then lightly regarded WBO title, and a destructive defence versus rival Jorge Luis Gonzalez. Je won the trilogy against Holyfield but that fight ended his prime, as shown after with Golota.

Tyson should be fourth.
He quickly lost the undisputed title in the biggest upset of the sport. He rebounded with four wins (including Stewart and the feared Ruddock), but as he was supposed to regain the title, he went to prison, losing his prime in the process. He also didn't witness the best part of the decade.
When he returned, the fire was lost. However, his aura of invicibility was still rejuvenated, and although he remarkably unified the WBA/WBC titles within a year, he quickly lost his champion status when he was stopped by Holyfield. The rematch ended abruptly because of disqualification, and he never regained the same prominence for the rest of his career.

The others 6 names are difficult to pin given the depth of that era, but I would say Moorer, Foreman, Morrison, Mercer, Bruno and maybe Holmes should be included.
Tua, Ibeabuchi and Grant emerged too late to be considered in a top 10 IMO.

 

And I think Lewis was unquestionably the number one for the 1990's. He had one defeat, avenged, against McCall against an outstanding record of decent victories and I say this as a Holyfield fan back in the day in his jousts with Bowe, Tyson and Lewis. Both Bowe and Lewis prove to be his master in their 90's fights which is not to say who had the best overall career resume or who would win a peak H2H.
Evander lost 5 times in the decade but posted good wins over Douglas, Bowe, Moorer, Mercer, Tyson, Mercer, Foreman and Holmes. Lewis beat Mason, Tucker, Ruddock, Bruno, McCall, Mercer, Akinwande, Briggs, Morrison, Golota, and Holyfield, a better win ledger and a better losing record too. Holy is a clear second in my opinion, but definitely second.

 

Correct.

Lewis went something like 29-1-1 in the 90's. The draw was a ripoff and he avenged his defeat. That takes some beating.

 

I’d have to put some thought into this for the 10.

1. Holyfield - beat Douglas by KO coming off his monumental win over Tyson.
Defeated the unbeaten Riddick Bowe in an epic rematch when Bowe was viewed as the next super star heavyweight.
Defeated the two lingering boogeyman of the 1970s Foreman and Holmes.
Defeated Tyson when it appeared as Tyson would once again cakewalk into being the baddest man on the planet.
From 1990 through 1999 Holyfield was consistently near the very top of division

2. Lewis - Lewis has fewer losses and actually defeats Holyfield at end of decade. However he missed the big fights of the first half of the decade. No Bowe, No Tyson, No prime Holyfield. Lewis begins to dominate the back end of the decade.
3. Bowe - beat prime Holyfield and several ok wins in first half of decade
4. Tyson - back to back wins over Ruddock in savage fights. Honestly not much else but his perception and popularity were immense
5. David Tua - a little high? Maybe but he did defeat Rahman, Ruiz, Maskaev and fought an ultra competitive bout with Ibeabuchi that some feel he deserved all in the 90s
6. Foreman - Cooney is an overhyped name win at that point but he does KO Moorer and is fairly competitive with a near peak Holyfield
7. Ibeabuchi - Tua and Byrd - two big wins. almost want to not count him due to being incomplete resume
8. Moorer - defeated Holyfield in a poor outing from Evander. First Southpaw to hold title.
9. McCall - ko’s undefeated Lewis, beats ancient Holmes
10. Golota - depends on how you view his losses to Bowe. He dominated both bouts but officially lost them both.

HM: Douglas has the single best win in the decade but all other meaningful wins occur in the 80s

 

With all due respect, Lewis never fought " The Man " during the decade until 1999.
During that time, Holyfield dethroned Douglas, had a memorable trilogy with Bowe, beat Tyson twice and avenged the Moorer loss.
Apart from Ruddock and Bruno, what very good win Lewis had at the first half of the 90's ? And he became undisputed champion ten years after he started his career, which is a very long time. By comparison, Holyfield became it after two years in the heavyweight ranks, Bowe less than four years and Tyson (although it was in the 80's) two years and a half.

 

at the same time, could Holmes have beaten Moorer?

 

Douglas has the single best win in the division ever earned by a man not named Joe Frazier.

 

sure why not? Holmes beat Mercer who was better than Moorer.

Moorer’s heavyweight career is unimpressive. He beat a damaged goods Holyfield who was suffering from a noncompliant left ventricle. After that, he lost his title to a 45 year old man. He then barely skated by B level fighters Bean Botha and Shultz, before getting destroyed by a healthy Holyfield in a rematch.