The better HW of their era, Holyfield or Lewis?

[Mr140]

Well Holyfeild resume at heavy is pretty good i mean he has wins over Bowe, Tyson, Foreman, and Holmes and he took to Lewis in rematch at 36. To me his heart condition is what made him inconsistent i mean Holyfeild has alot of medical issues i not sure how he is still allowed to fight to be honest.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I could be entirely wrong, but if we take Holyfield at his best, would he not be a Cruiserweight?

[stebs]

I could be entirely wrong, but if we take Holyfield at his best, would he not be a Cruiserweight?

Yes he would be.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I've always rated Lennox Lewis highly as a Champion because of his consistency(reign), dominance (unifications) and Ability (Era). As a champion I think Lewis was better than most but as a fighters fighter, or even a boxers boxer, P4P Holyfield was by far the better man. Its just a shame his career as a Heavyweight was so patchy.

I still belive Holyfield wouldn't of looked so bad if he wasn't fighting tricky guys like Bryd, Donald & Toney so late into his career... Maybe the Ruiz trilogy had him fooled

[rjj tszyu]

I've always rated Lennox Lewis highly as a Champion because of his consistency(reign), dominance (unifications) and Ability (Era). As a champion I think Lewis was better than most but as a fighters fighter, or even a boxers boxer, P4P Holyfield was by far the better man. Its just a shame his career as a Heavyweight was so patchy.

I still belive Holyfield wouldn't of looked so bad if he wasn't fighting tricky guys like Bryd, Donald & Toney so late into his career... Maybe the Ruiz trilogy had him fooled

I've said this before but I believe Evander should have retired after the second Lewis fight and if he had I think that the boxing world would regard him as high as 3# all time HW. I know I would. All the shit defeats such as Ruiz, Toney, Donald and Byrd that came after Evander had lost it just shouldn't have happened. People say Ali doesn't get knocked down the ATG ladder for his poor ending but he knew after losing to Berbick it was over and didn't wait around for other shit fighters to beat him too.

[ICB]

I have said above that I think peak Holyfield beats peak Lewis, but it's tight. When was peak Holyfield? The 1st Bowe fight arguably? Lewis was better than Bowe, so maybe Lewis would've out jabbed and beaten Holyfield

I'm sticking with Evander, but very hard to call

Evander Holyfield fought the wrong fight vs Riddick Bowe, in there 1st meeting. Plus Lennox Lewis might not have been better than Riddick Bowe in that one fight. It was an amazing performance from Riddick Bowe.

In the rematch Evander Holyfield fought a great fight, possibly one of his best performance's as a Heavyweight. Counter punching sticking/moving, a real good technical performance from Evander Holyfield.

That version of Evander Holyfield i believe beats Lennox Lewis.

[rjj tszyu]

I have said above that I think peak Holyfield beats peak Lewis, but it's tight. When was peak Holyfield? The 1st Bowe fight arguably? Lewis was better than Bowe, so maybe Lewis would've out jabbed and beaten Holyfield

I'm sticking with Evander, but very hard to call

Evander Holyfield fought the wrong fight vs Riddick Bowe, in there 1st meeting. Plus Lennox Lewis might not have been better than Riddick Bowe in that one fight. It was an amazing performance from Riddick Bowe.

In the rematch Evander Holyfield fought a great fight, possibly one of his best performance's as a Heavyweight. Counter punching sticking/moving, a real good technical performance from Evander Holyfield.

That version of Evander Holyfield i believe beats Lennox Lewis.

Me too. Also I don't want to make excuses for Evander but did you know his brother was shot dead right before (i think it was a week) the first Bowe fight? I know I couldn't have gone through with the fight under those circumstances and I often wonder whether he would have been dragged into the war he did had he been totally focused which he surely can't have been.

Anyway this discussion has got my appetite up for watching this trilogy again so I'm off lol.

[BIG H]

I have said above that I think peak Holyfield beats peak Lewis, but it's tight. When was peak Holyfield? The 1st Bowe fight arguably? Lewis was better than Bowe, so maybe Lewis would've out jabbed and beaten Holyfield

I'm sticking with Evander, but very hard to call

Evander Holyfield fought the wrong fight vs Riddick Bowe, in there 1st meeting. Plus Lennox Lewis might not have been better than Riddick Bowe in that one fight. It was an amazing performance from Riddick Bowe.

Can't argue with any of that

[Fenster]

I have said above that I think peak Holyfield beats peak Lewis, but it's tight. When was peak Holyfield? The 1st Bowe fight arguably? Lewis was better than Bowe, so maybe Lewis would've out jabbed and beaten Holyfield

I'm sticking with Evander, but very hard to call

Evander Holyfield fought the wrong fight vs Riddick Bowe, in there 1st meeting. Plus Lennox Lewis might not have been better than Riddick Bowe in that one fight. It was an amazing performance from Riddick Bowe.

Can't argue with any of that

It's easy to excuse fighters for having bad nights or fighting the wrong fight. Holyfield is 1 out of 5 with Lewis and Bowe. If you bring his cruiserweight days into it, then he may well be better overall but not at heavyweight.

How many times do they need to beat him to convince they are his superior?

[erics44]

holyfield was definately more exciting, a fighter you couldnt help but get behind and will to win

lewis at his best tho would beat hollyfield at his best

IMO Lewis was at his peak when they did fight and Evander was quite a way past his best.

you might be right

i dont think either fight was lewis at his best

to be honest i cant even remember the fights, i remember thinking lewis had won the first quite clearly and the second being much closer, thats about it

[Mr140]

Well to be fair Fenster, Holyfeild by the third Bowie fight had some serious health issues and even worse when he came to the lewis fights he was getting up there in age.

[VictorCharlie]

I have always been a big fan of Evander and I think he may be the more talented of two but as far as legacy and best of the era you really can't argue with Lewis's reign and resume. On a side note I actually thought Evander won the Lewis rematch.

[milmascaras1]

both of these guys were ATG's imo. holyfield had a great run and is probably considered top 10 all-time at heavyweight. until last year, after viewing some of lewis' earlier fights, i didn't know how great this guy was. this guy was absolutely incredible and i think vastly underrated. okay, so, if you had to put a gun to my head, i would have to pick lennox lewis over holyfield. both of these guys had it all but because of the size difference, lennox was the better heavyweight and certainly a top 8 all-time.

[Spicoli]

I have said above that I think peak Holyfield beats peak Lewis, but it's tight. When was peak Holyfield? The 1st Bowe fight arguably? Lewis was better than Bowe, so maybe Lewis would've out jabbed and beaten Holyfield

I'm sticking with Evander, but very hard to call

Evander Holyfield fought the wrong fight vs Riddick Bowe, in there 1st meeting. Plus Lennox Lewis might not have been better than Riddick Bowe in that one fight. It was an amazing performance from Riddick Bowe.

Can't argue with any of that

It's easy to excuse fighters for having bad nights or fighting the wrong fight. Holyfield is 1 out of 5 with Lewis and Bowe. If you bring his cruiserweight days into it, then he may well be better overall but not at heavyweight.

How many times do they need to beat him to convince they are his superior?

I had em 2-2-1 taking Lewis rematch...and of course following the strict record book and not letting my personal excuses etc get in the way of judges 'draw' call. Bowe frankly was 'great' on a night and don't think he holds light to either of these guys overall.

[rjj tszyu]

I have always been a big fan of Evander and I think he may be the more talented of two but as far as legacy and best of the era you really can't argue with Lewis's reign and resume. On a side note I actually thought Evander won the Lewis rematch.

I actually scored the rematch a draw so IMO the 2 fights got the right results just they came with the wrong fights.