Undisputed undefeated cruiserweight champ. (unified the 3 belts in his first 18 pro fights) Undisputed Heavyweight champ. Only the 3rd man in the entire history of boxing to regain the lineal championship (after Patterson and Ali). 4 times heavyweight champ, including alphabet titles. 3 times RING magazine fighter of the year 1987, 1996, 1997. Involved in RING magazine fight or the year twice : 1992 (lost), 1996 (won). Fighting 15 rounds in his 12th pro fight. Won his first world title fight in July 1986. Won his last world title fight in August 2000. The man is a legend for good reasons.
No he's not old Foreman would KO him and old Holmes would give him a boxing lesson. Even with Greco Roman wrestling style he used.
Funny how Holy's haters keep bringing Ruiz' fights. Ruiz was 10 years younger, far fresher, and by the time they've met Holyfield was washed up. Mendoza even brings Toney and Donald fights, that's great. Let's then count Ali's fights vs Spinks, Holmes and Berbick to estimate his boxing abilities.
That won't bother Mendoza, instead bring up Jeffries loss to Johnson. Vitalis losses to Byrd and Lewis. Wlads losses to Purrity, Sanders, Brewster, Fury and Joshua.
What he also keeps forgetting is how Holyfield avenged the Moorer defeat 3 years later pretty decisively proving that the first fight was a fluke.
Those were fairly competent fighters, Holmes comeback is as good as Foreman's IMO, I would argue that beating an undefeated Ray Mercer is a better win than Michael Moorer, Cooper could give hell to almost anyone on his best night and it was the same for Stewart. Maybe these guys weren't the best of the best but they were very talented It seems that they don't agree with you. From the Ring Magazine best I faced series: Bowe: BEST OVERALL Holyfield: Unequivocally. Evander was smart, he was a thinker, he was in great shape, he had all the attributes to make him a great champion. That’s why he and I fought against each other so hard and so well. Foreman: The men I faced in the seventies were more fearsome than the ones I faced in the eighties and the nineties, with the exception of Evander Holyfield. Evander could have competed in any era. Tyson: BEST OVERALL Holyfield: Great champion: chin, heart, determination, work ethic, demeanor. Moorer: BEST OVERALL Holyfield: I feel that Evander was the best that I faced, because he was always at his peak. When you are at your peak, you are always ready for everything and anything that is put before you. Evander always came ready. So I feel that he would have to be the best one that I fought, because he would always get himself in the best shape possible for any fight. He was always that guy. If he did not beat you the first time, he would beat you the second time. Ocasio: BEST OVERALL Holyfield: He was one of the greatest I ever had the pleasure of stepping in the ring with. Lewis was young and one-dimensional at the time, however, he would later develop and become a superstar. Holmes was a good fighter, but he was a stand-up fighter, straight, not moving in angles. Lewis: BEST OVERALL Holyfield: Holyfield was the best opponent I faced in my career. Mercer: BEST BOXING SKILLS Holyfield: Everybody knows he’s got the skills to hit and move, hit and not get hit. He was slick, everything his trainer told him to do he does. He was in a position to punch all the time, that’s one thing that amazes me, you have to have good footwork for that. He knows all the moves, he’ll make you pay for your mistakes. He’s just a natural, he’s got everything, he’s complete, he’s the Real Deal. Ruiz: BEST OVERALL Holyfield: He had the big name and always went to war. He brought everything but the kitchen sink into the ring to use. He knew how to win and did everything to win. Czyz: BEST OVERALL Evander Holyfield and Corrie Sanders: Evander was the greatest fighter I ever faced. Vince Lombardi has the great quote, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” That applied to my fight with Evander. He didn’t train that hard for the fight, because he fought some of the biggest, toughest guys in the world. I was no threat to him. I knew he didn’t train very hard, so come around round four and round five, I’m still hanging around. I was still there, and now, he was getting tired. He couldn’t change the fact that he shot his load and the lactic acid build up was giving him trouble punching. I am not a better fighter than Evander Holyfield. Never was, never will be. I didn’t have his height, his weight, his reach, his assets, but he put something in my eyes. I couldn’t see a thing the next round. Bert Cooper told me the next day after my fight that the same thing happened to him with Holyfield.
Old Foreman couldn't KO Schulz instead he lost pretty much every round, couldn't KO Briggs, arguably got a gift against Alex Stewart. He was essentially hot garbage. If Schulz is pitching a shut out against Foreman, so would Ruiz. Holmes would get outworked by Ruiz. Holmes would be more competitive but wouldn't have the stamina.
That's because Schultz had speed something that Ruiz didn't have. Ruiz would get clipped trying to do his Greco-Roman style wrestling. Holmes would to able to move and outbox Ruiz. Neither Holmes nor Foreman had the wear that Holyfield did when he fought Ruiz.
Ruiz is as fast as Schultz. Neither Foreman or Holmes had the stamina or workrate Holyfield did when he fought Ruiz. Holyfield was still good enough to beat Rahman after this trilogy, which is as good a win as Moorer or Mercer. People always give Holyfield tons of credit for the Lewis rematch. Well this fight was only 9 months later.
This is the first time I've seen anyone arguing that being knocked out is better than losing on points lol. Lewis, Vitali and Wlad didn't lose their fights on points because they couldn't survive the fight they were in. Bowe lost on points to Holyfield. This was an awfully constructed argument. Shame. Shame. Shame.
Holyfield gets credit for the Lewis fight because of how old he was. It's used as an extrapolating tool as to how he'd have done in his prime.
You mean when he headbutted his way to victory? That's your fight your going to use? Also how far would have John Ruiz gotten if he didn't have Don King and his illegal Greco Roman wrestling tactics?
Jack Dempsey went 0-2 against Tunney, he clearly wasn’t in his class Joe Louis went 0-2 against Ezzard Charles, and 1-1 with Joe Walcott which should have been 0-2. He clearly wasn’t in their class Ali should have gone 1-2 against Norton, clearly he wasn’t in his class. Holmes went 0-2 against Michael Spinks, he clearly wasn’t in his class Mendoza logic
People have short memories. Again, Ruiz was limited but 28 years old and in his prime. Holyfield was an old 37/38 years old, shot to ****, 15 years on from his first world title, an entire decade on from beating Douglas and with far too many miles on the clock from wars with much bigger men. As for the Toney and Donald fights, they were another 2 and 3 years after Ruiz. He fought Donald 18 YEARS after beating Qawi for the WBA Cruiserweight Strap. His longevity and competitiveness at world level was insane.
