BoxRec

Where does Evander Holyfield rank among all time great Heavyweights?

I feel like just about everyone has Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis as their Top 2, but I think Holyfield makes Top 5. Thoughts? Where do you rank him?

I have him 4th, anywhere from 4 to 11 or 12 is reasonable. Wherever you put him, he's definitely over Tyson.

Cmon Saad, just because Evander beat him up twice, and probably could have beaten him just about anytime in their mutual careers doesn't mean you have to rate him higher than Tyson.

Stop making sense.

Top 10.He was great champ.
Really respect him and really had a series of great fight with great boxer.

BoxBuzz wrote:Cmon Saad, just because Evander beat him up twice, and probably could have beaten him just about anytime in their mutual careers doesn't mean you have to rate him higher than Tyson.

Stop making sense.

So what your saying is that the Tyson that Holyfield got the better of in there two meeting's was the damaged version and that Tyson was a early bloomer and that Holy could never beat the pre Douglas Tyson is that what you believe.

BoxRec's all time heavyweight ratings has Muhammad Ali No. 1, Holyfield No. 2, and Joe Louis No. 3. Holyfield made the most of his abilities, but I think that a prime Larry Holmes could have beaten Holyfield just from a size and reach advantage.

ginty wrote:I find Holyfield a tough one to rate at heavy weight his record isn't that great he beat a fat Douglas then had 3 easy fights vs 2 ancient former greats and a cruiser weight in Bert cooper then lost to bowe then after that went win one loss one vs bowe and moorer he had a great win vs Tyson and then drew and lost to lennox ,I'm a big Holyfield fan loved the way he fought but fighters like holmes have a much better record even the klit bros .

Wlad has a better record, Vitali does not.

Holyfield has a much better record than both brothers combined.

For me he is in front of both brothers Klitscko, Lewis and Tyson.


In fact he had with Ali most heavy fighting and great opponents. He had great career.
Of the top 6-10 belongs.

ginty wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Holyfield has a much better record than both brothers combined.

At heavyweight? Why?

Foreman
Tyson
Holmes
Lewis
Bowe

Way better than anything either Klitschko has even thought of doing. It's not even debatable

tiny_acres wrote:

ginty wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Holyfield has a much better record than both brothers combined.

At heavyweight? Why?

Foreman
Tyson
Holmes
Lewis
Bowe

Way better than anything either Klitschko has even thought of doing. It's not even debatable

Michael Moorer is not bad

ginty wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Holyfield has a much better record than both brothers combined.

At heavyweight? Why?

Because he beat and faced much better fighters. Vitalis resume is no better than Ruiz.

ginty wrote:

tiny_acres wrote:

ginty wrote:
At heavyweight? Why?

Foreman
Tyson
Holmes
Lewis
Bowe

Way better than anything either Klitschko has even thought of doing. It's not even debatable

Foreman and holmes were OAPs and he got beat by Lewis and bowe

Lol, that foreman ices wlad and that Holmes outboxes vitali.

Keko wrote:For me he is in front of both brothers Klitscko, Lewis and Tyson.

I agree.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

ginty wrote:

tiny_acres wrote: Foreman
Tyson
Holmes
Lewis
Bowe

Way better than anything either Klitschko has even thought of doing. It's not even debatable

Foreman and holmes were OAPs and he got beat by Lewis and bowe

Lol, that foreman ices wlad and that Holmes outboxes vitali.

Holmes might have cut Vitaly badly with his excellent jab and crisp right hands. Holmes had very good timing even when he was 42 y.o.

He did, and if you watch vitalis inability to do anything with Kevin Johnson laying on the ropes you can see the formula for Larry. Evander was a bigger puncher than vitali, so even if he lands his best shot, Larry isn't going anywhere.

That was several years later.

- Mr. Field a great cruiser in pioneer days, but none of them boys could compete today. Every heavy champ who won their first title would walk through his cruiser comp. JC Gomez better at 190 even if he fizzled in the modern behemoth era.

Field's record at heavy stood at 7-0, 7 KO before he ran into a Juggernaut, Big George for his first defense, who left him hanging on a meat hook struggling for dear life by the end. That killed his invincibility as he struggled against journeymen and contenders, his post Big George record being 18-10-2, 8 KO, a 27% KO ratio with a career 10-7-2 title heavy record, which is OK, but so many over him with better title records who never looked so consistently poor. He and Big Dummy made history for boys posting here now during the soft clay of their formative years that made him a fortune. Women and mama babies dropped off him like fleas, but nothing to show for it today other than the HOF where he picks up spending dough with his pen.

The question that hangs over him is how at 186 lbs he goes from being hospitalized in a split dec over a 5-5 tubby Qawi to ten years later with a stacked 215 lbs TKO over Mike Tyson? IBRO has him 14th behind Tyson and Lewis who certainly never passed themselves around for the Russian sport like Field was used for.



C'mon Vander, you weren't so bad.

OK, whatever.
Anyway, Crease just ran a thread where people could vote for their top heavyweights of all time. Holyfield came in 9th. That's pretty good.

How would Evander have stacked up against Ezzard Charles or Jersey Joe Walcott?

I'd put him around the top 10, maybe 9-12, just based on his longevity and number of titles wins. He was hardly a dominant fighter and struggled with too many opponents he should've beaten easily. He also has the question of roid use constantly hanging over his head.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:He did, and if you watch vitalis inability to do anything with Kevin Johnson laying on the ropes you can see the formula for Larry. Evander was a bigger puncher than vitali, so even if he lands his best shot, Larry isn't going anywhere.

You have to be joking. Vitali has one of the highest KO% by a HW champion ever. Evander had to struggle to a decision with way too many of his opponents.

jbizzle20 wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:He did, and if you watch vitalis inability to do anything with Kevin Johnson laying on the ropes you can see the formula for Larry. Evander was a bigger puncher than vitali, so even if he lands his best shot, Larry isn't going anywhere.

You have to be joking. Vitali has one of the highest KO% by a HW champion ever. Evander had to struggle to a decision with way too many of his opponents.

at ko%, you're cute.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

jbizzle20 wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:He did, and if you watch vitalis inability to do anything with Kevin Johnson laying on the ropes you can see the formula for Larry. Evander was a bigger puncher than vitali, so even if he lands his best shot, Larry isn't going anywhere.

You have to be joking. Vitali has one of the highest KO% by a HW champion ever. Evander had to struggle to a decision with way too many of his opponents.

at ko%, you're cute.

You don't get an 87% KO rate when you are a champ for as long as Vitali was, by luck. The big knock on Holyfield was that he wasn't Tyson, meaning he wasn't a big puncher. In fact, he had trouble attracting the same level of fame earlier in his career because of this lack of big power.

Ok