1) Evander Holyfield- No other heavyweight this decade has beaten as many top fighters. James "Quick" Tillis, Pinklon Thomas, "Buster" Douglas, George Foreman, Bert Cooper, Riddick Bowe, Alex Stewart, Ray Mercer, Mike Tyson, and Michael Moorer are all on his resume. The fact that this guy accomplished what he did at heavyweight coming from the cruiserweight division is truly amazing.
2) Lennox Lewis- Many will no doubt strongly disagree with me here. I think Lewis is highly underrated. Lewis has been ducked by Tyson and Bowe for a reason. That's not his fault. Lewis did the next best thing in fighting the guys who gave the guys who ducked him a hard time. Besides, Lewis' resume isn't bad by any means: Tyrell Biggs, Mike Weaver, Tony Tucker, Phil Jackson, "Razor" Ruddock, Frank Bruno, Andrew Golota, Mercer, Henry Akinwande, Tommy Morrison and Holyfield. Lewis has been a smart fighter, a good boxer and a good puncher.
3) Riddick Bowe- His 2 wins over Holyfield are of such magnitude that he's here based on those historic wins alone. Outside of that, he hasn't done much to deserve it. He beat some name fighters in Jesse Ferguson, Herbie Hibe, Jorge Luis Gonzalez, Larry Donald, Tony Tubbs, Bert Cooper and Michael Dokes, but these names were usually grossly past their prime/out of shape, or they were inexperienced, but came into prominence after Bowe beat them. A lot more was expected from Bowe and he was capable of a lot more. What might've been doesn't count. He did himself a catastrophic injustice by ducking Lennox Lewis. However, he was a terrific boxer with good power, he had a devestating uppercut, a great left jab and a real knack for in-fighting, which is rare for a fighter his height.
4) George Foreman- Made history by becoming the oldest man to win a heavyweight title even though many looked at him not unlike the way many look at Butterbean: a sideshow circus act. Beat some decent journeymen on the way up like Steve Zouski, David Jaco, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Evertt "Bigfoot" Martin, Bert Cooper, Gerry Cooney, Ken Lakusta, and Adilson Rodriquez. Gave Holyfield a spirited battle when Holyfield was in his prime. Beat Moorer to regain the championship via 1 punch KO. Only true setback was a loss to Tommy Morrison in probably his most lethargic performance ever. He successfully defended his title once against Axel Schulz in a controversial decision that most people feel George lost, but was actually a close fight. He also beat Alex Stewart in a close war and tough Lou Savarese. Most insiders feel Big George was robbed against Shannon Briggs after giving Briggs a boxing lesson over 12 rounds and so do I. An amazing fighter. Doing what he did at his age was unheard of and he proved his critics wrong.
5) Michael Moorer- A southpaw with an effective right jab and good power; had good power and boxing ability. Very talented, although he lacked motivation at times and thus made some fights closer than they should've been. Probably could've gone further and accomplished more if he had been more inspired. Recorded good wins over Bert Cooper, Alex Stewart, Axel Schulz, Franz Botha and of course, a close decision win over Holyfield.
6) Mike Tyson- Has accomplished little in the 90s in terms of beating the best fighters available, but did regain 2 of the 3 belts in comeback (against Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon repsectively), has two solid victories over Ruddock. And good KOs against two very game opponents: Buster Mathis Jr. and Franz Botha.
7) Larry Holmes- Extremely underrated in during his comeback. Beat Mercer more convincingly than Holyfield or Lewis. Beat "Bigfoot" Martin and Jesse Ferguson. In my opinion, he beat Oliver McCall and deserved to regain the championship in that fight. I also think he deserved the nod against then undefeated Brian Nielsen and eeked out a points victory over improving Maurice Harris. He gave a prime Holyfield a tough fight and won his rounds more convincingly than Holyfield.
8) James "Buster" Douglas- Beat previously unbeaten Mike Tyson for the undisputed heavyweight championship. He looked like the second coming of a prime Larry Holmes in that fight, pumping the jab effectively and patiently. After 10 rounds, the accumalated punishment took its toll and Douglas scored what is considered in boxing circles as one of the biggest, if not the biggest upset in boxing history. He's here based on that masterful performance alone.
9) Ike Ibeabuchi- This may seem a little soon, but he has already beaten two of the best new heavyweights in Tua and Byrd, which I think are two great accomplishments for such an inexperienced and young fighter. Why? Because in doing so, Ike showed an adaptability to styles. Tua is an in-your-face, hard punching, Tysonesque puncher and Byrd is like a heavyweight Pernell Whitaker. Adaptability is an extremely important trait and Ike showed that against Tua and Byrd.
10) Andrew Golota- This might be a controversial choice, but he did "beat" Riddick Bowe twice and he did so more convincingly than Holyfield ever did. The result was that Golota derailed Bowe's plans to fight for the title again and Bowe ended up having to retire. Since then, he's also beaten Tim Witherspoon and Jesse Ferguson pretty easily. He probably will never go down as an all-time great because his propensity to quit in tough fights have undermined what his skills are capable of.
