Quote Originally Posted by JT Rock
I think taking into consideration that he was the greatest Cruiserweight of all time and being one of the best heavies, regardless of what you think of Imbrigamov at Evanders age to attain the Heavyweight championship for the 5th time.

I gotta believe he has to break into the top 5 PFP all time greats list if he wins
As impressive a feat as it would be - and I dont think Holyfield will succeed - beating Sultan Ibragimov for the WBO belt wont make much of a difference on Holyfield's resume vis a vis the alltime best p4p. In fact I think people in the grand historic scheme of things would be offended by even noting the WBO title 'the Heavyweight championship'.

Holyfield is a bona fide 3 time champ with wins against several HW legends, but there is a distinct difference between bouncing back to defeat Frazier or Foreman or to bounce back to beat John Ruiz or Sultan Ibragimov, especially when the latters are/were both considered (among) the weakest titlists out of four.

Also, Holyfield definetely deserve credit p4p for being a natural cruiser (sort of), as opposed to say Klitschko or Lewis who could never fight below heavy. However most heavyweights thtoughout history would be cruisers by today standards, e.g. Rocky Maricano (who never fought above 190 according to boxrec)), Joe Louis (who fought most of his career below 200). Heck even Ali could/would have been a cruiser in the beginning of his career. So in all honesty, Holyfield may be the best cruiser ever, but he is not the best fighter ever weighing in at 190 in my opinion.

Dont get me wrong - I like Holyfield. A lot. But there is no way he should be all time top 5 p4p. Top 25 is more likely.