evander's rep at heavy was goinb toe to toe with a bigger more skilled foe in riddick bowe........he only won one but got alot of well earned respect for his heart and guts....much like micky ward did even though he lost 2 of 3 to gatti---he suffered no disgrace as a result but rather gained popularity and respect even in defeat


what really cemented his legacy was standing up to the seemingly re-invincible mike tyson (most people forgot the douglas fight by then and going to prison actually enhanced mike's rep as a bad ass) and kayoing him and then of course mike futhered that even more by biting his ear off in the rematch

what most people forget when evaluating vander as an overall fighter is that he was probably the greatest cruiserweight of all time...which is not like being the best middleweight ever but it does have some merit...