1. Yes I have Holyfield over that Tyson because Holyfield beat him and Tyson2 and Lewis1 were only 18months apart, did Holyfield fade that much in 18months? Holy went onto avenge 2. This 1 could favour Douglas but he was out of shape, although the Tyson Douglas beat wasn't in training and was partying and just wasnt the same man, underrated wins for both fighters and quite close 3. Tua beat Ruiz/Rahman/Moorer/Maskeev and arguably Ibeabuchi. Moorer beat Holyfield/Cooper/Bean/Jirov/Botha - its close but the head to head is devastating in Tuas favour 4. Comeback Foreman just wasn't particularly good, feet in the mud and slow, this is the same Foreman getting schooled by Morrison and Schulz of all people. Aside from chinny Moorer he doesnt have 1 win over a top10er in his comeback and deserved a loss against. Tyson was also younger and nowhere near as overweight as Big George was. 5. I did mention I didnt include Cruserweights because they are impossible to compare to a HWs, simple as really. In the other thread we were discussing Briggs-Stewart and 3-1 favoured Briggs As I said in my post though, these wins are all quite close and many are subjective to judge, if I was being completely biased I could argue Vitali was a better win the Bowe, but I believe the Bowe win to edge it.
How about we do a simple run-down of each man's noteworthy wins: Lewis Mason old Weaver Biggs Ruddock faded Tucker Bruno Morrison Mercer McCall Akinwande Golota Briggs old Holyfield (should've been twice) Tua Grant Rahman old Tyson Vitali Holyfield Qawi (twice) DeLeon faded Tillis Thomas faded Dokes Adilson Rodriguez Alex Stewart (twice) Douglas old Foreman old Holmes Bowe Mercer Tyson (twice) Moorer Ruiz Rahman Oquendo Savarese Did I leave anyone out? Key points worth noting are that both men beat Rahman and Mercer within a fight of each other, and Holy beat a much younger, fresher, and fitter version of Tyson (while Holy himself was probably farther from his best than Lewis when he beat Tyson).
I agree full heartedly with your comparison.. One note that I will make however, is that you list Dokes as faded, and frankly I'm not sure that he was. He was drug free for the first time in years, and that included the time period in which he was a champion. He was in the best shape of his life, trained by a better group of people, and fighting extremely actively, even though his opposition was basically mediocre. He was also still within the general age range of 29-30 years old, and for the first time in his career, actually had something to shoot for, because there was a raining champion ( Tyson ), who he might have gotten a shot at, rather than a champion who was promoted by the same people and whom he was placed in the position of succeding, therefore never destined to meet... If that makes any sense.... Anyway, I think Dokes is commonly listed as an underrated win for Holyfield, given that people have this perception that Dokes was fading. It was one of the greatest heavyweight fights of the 20th century, and against a very game opponent.
Better fighter p4p? Holyfield Better Resume overall? Holyfield Better Heavyweight? Lewis (largely due to dominance) Better Heavyweight Resume? Close call either way.
I agree with that assessment of Dokes. He'd racked up 8 wins in 12 months on his latest comeback, named "comeback of the year" in the RING's annual awards. Not against ranked opposition but he'd looked very sharp, and he'd gotten into great shape over that run of fights, and at 30 and clean from drugs he was looking at or near his best form ever. With his 37-1-2 record and WBA title-holder history and proven pedigree he had similar credentials to some of the better challengers Tyson was defending against at the time, like Tubbs, but in better shape.