Who ranks higher on the all-time great Heavyweight list, Lewis or Holyfield?

didnt we do this not too long ago?

Holyfield for me

 

I'd give the edge in oppositon to Holyfield, and the edge in dominance to Lewis.

Ranking, I have Lewis ahead of Holyfield by about 4-5 places, but a legimate argument can be made for either fighter being ranked higher than the other. Certainly on a career basis and a p4p basis, Holyfield wins hands down, but in terms of ATG heavyweights, and H2h basis, it's a closer call.

Personally,I'd give Lewis the edge on the H2h basis against the very elite and I personally think given their styles, a prime for prime match up would have unfolded along similar lines of what happened when they fought, although it would have been closer than the 17 to 7 rounds I felt Lewis won in those two fights.

 

i personally have Holyfield one place ahead of Lewis.

But they are really interchangeable to me in that regard and I can't argue the reverse. Lewis had some things that Holyfield didn't, and vice versa.

 

But if we are going to compare their whole boxing careers we can add their respective Olympic careers into the mix too..

 

Lewis.

 

Lewis is amongst the top 3-5, for me. Holy is 8-12

 

holyfield all day long lewis beat a load of has beens and never weres .

 

Remarkably these two fought very few common opponents.
And their fights with one another aren't really conclusive, all things considered.

Lewis has the better win-loss-draw tally but of course most of Holyfield's losses happened past a stage and age that Lewis even attempted to fight at.

 

Could you explain this please? IMO it was very conclusive.

 

Lewis ranks higher.

 

Professional Career...................................... Holyfield
Heavyweight............................................... Lewis
Pro and Olympic Career................................. Lewis [ I would just edge it to Lewis as he won a Gold over Holys Bronze and also beat Bowe who beat Holy x 2

 

I think the way these fights played out and what happened to Holyfield in his next few fights showed that Lewis was fighting a guy that was far from his best. That suggests to me that Lewis would have had a much tougher time with the Holyfield of the early 90's.
They were conclusive wins by Lewis, but I dont think he could win that way had he fought Holyfield in the early 90's. Holyfield would have offered a harder more varied offensive attack.