evander holyfield best heavyweight 1990-2000

[Syntax Error]

he fought and beat almost everybody , no other fighter i the heavyweight divsion can say that they fought everybody.

he out lasted everyone of them and has the record of winning the heavyweight title the most times.

tyson
lewis
bowe
moorer

all good champs but holyfield was the best during this time

given the fact that evander's 2nd fight with lewis was far closer then the first and that holyfield was a well-worn 35 at that time, many believe that a prime evander of 1996-97 would have beaten lewis if they fought then!!

Evander Holyfield was not in his prime in 1996/7.

He was 34/5 & considered shot, so much so, some folk feared for his life before the 1st Tyson fight.

Lewis was at his best in 1996/7 & would have beaten Evander then IMO.

[bada$$]

hey im british and im saying holyfield is the best

a prime holyfield beats lewis
a prime tyson destroys lewis

if rahman and mccall can knock out lewis with 1 punch both of these great champions (holy and mike) would do it aswell

hehehehe nobody destroys lewis... tyson avoided lewis for years... they trained together back in the day at some point and lewis was playing with tyson... so tyson never wanted any part of him

[jezzamundo]

holy beat better men in thier prime...lewis big win was when holy and tyson were shot....holy beat tyson , bowe , moorer when they were fresh

can lewis say that???

if they all fought each other i think this would be the top 5

1. holyfield
2. tyson.........prime vs prime vs lewis.......lennox doesnt last 3 rounds
3. lewis
4. bowe
5. moorer

This is how I see potential fights between the above five (with the exception of Moorer) in or near their respective primes going. Read and see how the 90s could have been seen alongside the 70s as a great era for heavyweights:

1991
Holyfield TKO12 Tyson

1992
Bowe UD12 Holyfield

1993
Bowe TKO3 Lewis
Holyfield MD12 Bowe

1994
Holyfield UD12 Lewis
Tyson KO5 Bowe
Holyfield UD12 Tyson

1995
Lewis TKO8 Bowe
Bowe TKO8 Holyfield

1996
Lewis TKO5 Bowe
Lewis KO8 Tyson

1997
Lewis UD12 Holyfield

[chiricahua]

hey im british and im saying holyfield is the best

a prime holyfield beats lewis
a prime tyson destroys lewis

if rahman and mccall can knock out lewis with 1 punch both of these great champions (holy and mike) would do it aswell

hehehehe nobody destroys lewis... tyson avoided lewis for years... they trained together back in the day at some point and lewis was playing with tyson... so tyson never wanted any part of him

Actually tyson almost killed him in the first round and in the remaining 2 lewis only tried to survive. just ask kevin rooney.
Lewis ducked ruiz and he was the man who never wanted any part with prime tyson.
Post-prison tyson?Of course everyone was interested to fight against a marketing product and make a name with it.
Lewis ducked vitali for a rematch coz he was too scared to lose again

[Crssbones]

Pound for Pound Holyfield is the best fighter of this group. A younger Holyfield would have beaten Lennox Lewis he had more tenacity. I think Lewis' greatest asset was his size. He was a huge heavyweight and became a much better fighter under Emanuel Steward. I would rank the discussed as:
1. Evander Holyfield
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Mike Tyson
4. Riddick Bowe

I also think that Bowe had as much talent and natural ability as any of them but lacked the desire the others had. He could punch in combination on the inside and was also a big heavyweight with Eddie Futch in his corner.

[Klee Gluckman]

Holyfield prior to fighting Lewis had beaten everyman he faced and was robbed in the first Moorer fight IMO. The first Lewis Holyfield fight was closer than many make out it was. I thought there were six clear rounds for Lewis three clear rounds for holyfield and three boring rounds which could have gone every way. I scored that fight 117-114 for Lewis but was not as outraged as some at the outcome.

The second fight again was a marginal win for Lewis, I scored it even on the first glance and 115-113 Lewis on the second viewing. I think a yougner Holyfield could beat Lewis hell he could won the second fight if he had a bit more energy.

Holyfield has the more interesting resume than Lewis and seemed to fight the right fighters and the right time. He fought Foreman when Foremans comeback was at its peak, Foreman went on to regain the title so this win should not be down played. He beat Douglas coming of the upset over Tyson. He beat an unbeated Bowe within a year of losing to him. He followed the wins over Tyson by avenging Moorer to arive at the Lewis confrontation haivng beaten every man he faced.

Up until the age of 37 Evander beat everyone he faced. Lewis retired at 38 claiming the same credentials. Evander foolishly fights on losing to guys that are not fit to carry his jockstrap.

In the end Evander in his prime struck when the Iron was hot and fought the guys that were in the spotlight, that is why he made more money that Lennox Lewis. Whether or not he was a better fighter could be debated for ever in a day.

Pound for pound you can argue for Holyfield. I call it even. Evander never got ko'd by Rhaman type fighters. Evander only got stopped once legitimately and he was sick and Bowe was a better fighter than Rhaman.

Oliver Mccall is a forgivable loss because Lewis was up at six and avenged the defeat, and unlike Rhaman Mccall does have some good wins on his record, Maskaev, Lewis, Holmes, Akinwandbe, Sinan Samil Sam, and he went the distance with Bruno, Douglas ( at a time when Tyson could not) was unlucky not to beat Tucker and when mentally right is generally a competitive heavyweight.

I am going with Holyfield. People will aruge that Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield, Mercer avoided Lewis ( the later a rematch). However Lewis also fought Botha and Grant, Briggs when Tua and Ike were deserving of a shot. Both of those fighters circa 1998 were genuine threats. Lewis gave Briggs a shot on the basis of a gift against Foreman and Botha on the basis of outboxing Tyson for four rounds ( never mind the fact that Botha got beaten with one punch). He also fought Grant who had been exposed by Golotta who lewis had beated in one. Yes Grant won but Golotta beat the hell out of him and then quit. Fighting the likes of Grant, Botha, Briggs when Tua, Ike and even Rhaman were out there in 1998 was not acceptable. Lewis never faced Ike, never knocked out Tua and went 1-1 with Rahman. Also late in Lewis career he put money as priority one and fought Tyson instead of Wladimir, having said that I beleive the Lewis that fought Tyson would have destroyed both Klitcho brothers.

In summary I think both fighters are top 12 heavyweights of all time and both better than anything we have now. I giving the edge to Holyfield based on the fact he seemed to fight the right fighters and the right time.

[Goodnight, Irene]

"Holyfield prior to fighting Lewis had beaten everyman he faced and was robbed in the first Moorer fight IMO..." - Gluckman

To be fair, Holyfield was no more convincing in his rematch with Bowe, than Moorer was against him.

If Moorer got a gift against Holyfield, then it's fair to say Holyfield was equally fortuitous in receiving the decision against Bowe. Neither Holyfield or Moorer did enough to, "take" the championship away from the defender.

[Ambling Alp]

To take the title, you just have to score more points than the other guy.
Moorer deserved the decision in the first fight. It wasn't nearly as close as the judges scorecards. Holyfield had his worst fight of his prime and didn't do hardly anything the entire fight after the knockdown.

The 2nd Bowe-Holyfield fight was close, but even Bowe didn't dispute the decision.

[dempseyfire]

To take the title, you just have to score more points than the other guy.
Moorer deserved the decision in the first fight. It wasn't nearly as close as the judges scorecards. Holyfield had his worst fight of his prime and didn't do hardly anything the entire fight after the knockdown.

The 2nd Bowe-Holyfield fight was close, but even Bowe didn't dispute the decision.

I agree . . both very close fights but I think the right decisions were called for each one (Moorer and Holyfield) Holyfield-Moorer was the first of Evander's "lethargic-do nothing performances" which are now commonplace (also happened vs Bean, Lewis I, the entire Ruiz trilogy, Donald, Byrd etc.) I'm not sure if it was the heart/steroids/shoulder injury or a combination of all 3, but that fight to me signifies the end of Holyfield's prime. Even his better performances in the mid 90s (Mercer, Tyson fights) don't show the Holyfield of the first Bowe fight, Foreman, Dokes, Cooper etc.

[mcrow]

Let's look at what they've done in the 90's:

Holyfield:
Record in the 90's: 14-3-1
Notable wins: Moorer by TKO,Tyson by TKO,Ray Mercer by UD, Riddick Bowe by MD, Goerge Foreman
Notable Losses: Riddick Bowe by UD, Michael Moorer by MD, Lennox Lewis by UD

Lennox Lewis:

Record: 31-1
Notable Wins: Frank Bruno by TKO, Tommy Morrison by TKO,Andrew Golota by KO,Shannon Briggs by TKO, Holyfield by UD.
Notable Losses:Oliver McCall by TKO

Tyson:
Record: 10-3
Notable Wins: Frank Bruno by TKO
Notable Loses: Holfield x2, Buster Douglas

Bowe:
Record: 27-1-1
Notable Wins: Holyfield by UD, Larry Donald, Gonzales by KO, Evander Holyfield by TKO
Notable Loses:Holyfield by MD

Moorer:
Record: 18-2
Notable Wins: Holyfield by MD
Notable Loses: Geoege Foreman by KO, Holyfield by TKO

Foreman:
Record: 12-3
Notable Wins: Michael Moorer by TKO
Notable Losses:Evander Holyfield by UD, Tommy Morrison by UD, Shannon Briggs


So I Rank them:

#1- Holyfield (Fought more of the best fighters of his time than Lewis did)
#2- Lewis (Better career than Holyfield but holy field did more in the 90's)
#3- Riddick Bowe

The rest were no good.

[Crease]

Bump.

Looking back now, was Holyfield the best Heavyweight between 1990-2000?

[Ezzard]

I think so, though I think it’s a fair argument to say it was Lewis.

[Crease]

I think so, though I think it’s a fair argument to say it was Lewis.

Yeah Lewis' name is up there. And to a lesser degree so it McCall & Bowe.

[witherspoon]

Lennox Lewis was far more dominant in his reign as champ than Evan Fields. Fields has more wins over fellow contenders for fighter of the decade but you could argue that the only reason for this is that Lennox was avoided.
Lennox is my man, but the losses to OM and HR make all the difference between this being either a no brainer or a close run thing with decent arguments on both sides.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Lennox Lewis was far more dominant in his reign as champ than Evan Fields. Fields has more wins over fellow contenders for fighter of the decade but you could argue that the only reason for this is that Lennox was avoided.
Lennox is my man, but the losses to OM and HR make all the difference between this being either a no brainer or a close run thing with decent arguments on both sides.

This isnt an entire look at their HW careers, however, its just that decade. The Rahman loss doesnt even figure in this convo (but either does Lewis' good work --- nor Holyfields slide --- post-2000).

I think Holyfield has a narrow edge just looking at 1990-2000, and overall career at HW? Its very close.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Either Evander or Lewis is an acceptable answer.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Bowe is a very clear third, anyone putting Tyson ahead of him is either a gigantic Tyson fan or not looking at what happened in the decade.

[Goodnight, Irene]

How McCall would be in the mix, I dont know.

[Bricks]

he fought and beat almost everybody , no other fighter i the heavyweight divsion can say that they fought everybody.

he out lasted everyone of them and has the record of winning the heavyweight title the most times.

tyson
lewis
bowe
moorer

all good champs but holyfield was the best during this time

If we are talking accomplishements than Holyfield is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best heavyweight of that decade. But if we are purely talking who was the best fighter during that period on their best day against the other man on his best day I still think the 1991 Tyson of the Ruddock wars had enough left to beat any version of Holyfield , Bowe, Lewis of this decade. Although his defence and skills had slipped down to the level of the chasing pack that Tyson still had pulversing power and speed, and all importantly he still had the desire/chin/will to win that never saw after 1991....... the only HW of the 1990s i see beating that version of Tyson was Foreman 1991-1993........Holyfield of say a 1991 vintage i can see beating everyone else except 1991 Tyson....others will sneer well Bowe beat Holy twice....well the 1992 match Holyfield had more mileage on the clock, the 1993 match he won, and the 1995 match he lost in a up n down battle.... people will disagree but one thing we can agree on the 1990s was a golden era of golden HW fighters but sadly the important battles did not take place , such as tyson v Holy 1991, Foreman V tyson 1990, Bowe v Lewis 1992/95....or even Foreman v Holmes 1995!

[Bricks]

he fought and beat almost everybody , no other fighter i the heavyweight divsion can say that they fought everybody.

he out lasted everyone of them and has the record of winning the heavyweight title the most times.

tyson
lewis
bowe
moorer

all good champs but holyfield was the best during this time

given the fact that evander's 2nd fight with lewis was far closer then the first and that holyfield was a well-worn 35 at that time, many believe that a prime evander of 1996-97 would have beaten lewis if they fought then!!

Don't kid yourself: It was much the same for both men. The mid-nineties version of Lewis was comfortably better than the one that met Holyfield. Holyfield was by far my favourite 90's heavy, but if you take both on their best days, then Lewis was superior.

Id have:

Lewis
Holyfield
Bowe
And then the rest.

the mid 90s lewis had life and death with ray mercer and went 12 with zeijko mavrovic and almost got kayoed by briggs......nope the lewis that holy fought was the best one up until that time and the 2002 version was even better. lewis got better as he aged in the mid 90's he still hadnt had enough time with emmanuel steward to watch all those george foreman tapes

[Crease]

Why McCall?

How McCall would be in the mix, I dont know.

Well from January 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999 - McCall had an impressive record as a Heavyweight.

Look at his wins in that time period: (in chronological order)

Bruce Seldon: Future WBA World Champion.
Jesse Ferguson: Future WBA World Title challenger and consistently ranked fighter.
Francesco Damiani: Former WBO World Champion.
Lennox Lewis: Future Unified World Champion.
Larry Holmes: Former Multiple World Champion.
Oleg Maskaev: Future WBC World Champion.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying McCall's record is definitely the best, but it certainly is notewotrhy and like Bowe's it should be in contention.

Though I concede that the two outstanding candidates are; Lewis and Holyfield
(hence why I said "to a lesser degree")

[SaadOffTheDeck]

McCall's record is nowhere near Bowe's.

[Boilermaker]

I just lost a massive post setting out all the official wins and losses of the top contenders and dont have time to reproduce, but based purely on results here is a quick summary:

1. Riddick Bowe - (2-1 vs Holyfield) No other losses
2. Lennox Lewis - (1-0-1 vs Holyfield, 1-1 Draw McCall)
3. Evander Holyfield (W Tyson Drawn Moorer (1-1) Lost Bowe, Lewis)
4. Douglas - W Tyson L Holyfield (Beat Mcall late 1989 but it doesnt count and has a past prime comeback loss late in decade which shouldnt count)
5. Tyson - W Bruno, Ruddock L Holyfield, Douglas
6. Foreman - W Moorer, L Briggs
7. McCall - W Holmes Drew Lewis Lost Bruno, Tucker
8. Bruno - W McCall L Tyson, Lewis (no other losses)
9. Briggs - W Foreman L Lewis D Botha
10 Morrison - W Foreman, Ruddock L Lewis, Bent D Purity

Tucker, Holmes, Ruddock, Botha, Mercer and others miss out on the basis that they realistically did not beat the best one of best fighters of the era they fougth in. Some others who had some decent wins or draws had too many other losses against average fighters to be taken seriously. Jessie ferguson is one that crops up. Botha and Morrison both surprised me as to how their two records stack up.


I have never rated Douglas over Tyson for the decade before, but realistically, Douglas not only beat Tyson but his only loss was to the guy who beat Tyson (and Douglas had a better excuse, being in worse condition).

[SaadOffTheDeck]

So a gift decision against an almost 50 yr old Foreman for Briggs is realistically beating a top fighter of the decade more than Holmes taking out an undefeated Mercer or Mercer obliterating an undefeated Morrison? I can't agree with that logic.

[Boilermaker]

So a gift decision against an almost 50 yr old Foreman for Briggs is realistically beating a top fighter of the decade more than Holmes taking out an undefeated Mercer or Mercer obliterating an undefeated Morrison? I can't agree with that logic.

I barely rate Morrisson a top 10 fighter most of his career, much less a top 10 of the decade, but that is close to where his best wins sit him. Mercer really has not much more than his win over Morrisson (who at that time was admittedly undefeated, but his best win was against Pinklon Thomas and James Tillis both in the middle of massive losing runs). It means pretty much zero under any conditions, i would have thought. Morrisson did recover with the foreman win when Foreman. Foreman was pretty entrenched in the top 5 or 6 fighters, so it is a decent win which slighltly overshadows his losses, given that no one who beat him did anything. I do admit that the last couple of places could be interchanged with the other names i mentioned.

As for Holmes taking out the undefeated Mercer, It was a Ray Mercer who had a couple of decent wins, butno one really of note. Morrisson became the best of the names afterwards. Mercer went on to draw (just by a SD in the second fight) with Jesse ferguson and also draw with Marion Wilson. Neither of whom were fighters top 10 fighters draw with.

I agree that Briggs might have been given a gift against Foreman, but a win is a win, and it was a win over an opponent rated high enough to put him where i put him. Briggs didnt fight much quality opposition, but the losses he had were to fighters who would have defeated most others and the win he had (as controversial as one might consider it) was over an opponent who was higher rated than most people are able to beat him. You dont take a football premiership off a team because their win was controversial or poor, or a fluke. this is the ranking method i have used for this particular thread, I can see why some people prefer others, but on pure results, this is pretty much how it should be.