I've been watching a lot of boxing. A lot. Too much even. Originally it started out of my desire to catch up on fights I had missed after I dipped out on boxing in the late 90s before getting back into the sport around 2007 or so. It eventually delved into a deep dive on what basically amounts to the last 20-30 years in combat sports. Given my love of things like lists, I figured I'd do one. After watching way too many fights in the HW division, I wanted to rank my top 10 HWs of the 90s. Considered by many to be the glory days of heavyweight boxing, the 90s were host to many insane heavyweight fights and some of our more legendary characters. Who was the best? Well...
Honorable Mentions:
Donovan "Razor" Ruddock- Given that he started his career in 1982, it's at least somewhat honorable that Ruddock was still having competitive heavyweight fights with elite guys well into 1995 or so. Ruddock was the sort of guy who mastered the art of AAAA. He wasn't good enough to be MLB but he would casually crush the AAA competition.
Chris Byrd- Seriously! Chris Byrd wasn't always the flashiest or the coolest of the heavyweights but credit where it's due, Byrd was pretty solid in the 90s. He beat some decent dudes like Ross Purity, Lionel Butler and Bert Cooper. Watching Byrd, you could pretty much always tell he was destined to be one of those guys that boxing fans were never going to accept no matter what. Got smelted by ike Ibeabuchi.
Buster Douglas- The most famous one hit wonder in all of boxing. Douglas KOing Mike Tyson will always make him historic but in truth, his 90s weren't too hot. He beat Tyson, got smelted by Holyfield, fought a bunch of cans, took time off and then came back to get smelted by Lou Saverese. Not a good run.
Axel Schulz- Just one of those ultra tough under the radar European heavyweights. Fought Foreman, Moorer and Wlad Klitschko in the 90s and gave both Foreman and Moorer a scare. Was always more of a spoiler-y opponent than anything else.
Herbie Hide- I mean Herbie Hide was a two time WBO heavyweight champ although both times he took any semblance of a step up in competition, he was violently smacked back down to Earth. Wins over Tony Tucker and Michael Bentt don't overcome dominant losses to Vitali Klitschko and Riddick Bowe.
1- Lennox Lewis
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 29-1-1
Record in title fights- 8-1-1
Record against other fighters on the list- 3-1-1
Most people have Holyfield above Lennox Lewis in a "Best HWs of the 90s!" poll but I've got Lewis ahead of Holyfield. Let's start with Lewis on his own before we compare the two. Lennox Lewis' 90's resume features your usual HW fare of dudes you'd know like Frank Bruno (he's all over this list), Andrew Golota, Tony Tucker, Ray Mercer, Razor Ruddock, Shannon Briggs and Henry Akinwande. On this Top 10 list? Lewis has wins over Tommy Morrison, Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall. He does have a loss vs Oliver McCall but he was able to eventually get that one back down the line. It's also worth pointing out that outside of Ray Mercer and Holyfield, Lennox Lewis finished all of those guys. His resume looks even spiffier if you consider that he was robbed in the first Holyfield fight (I had it 8 rounds to 4 easily) and so he could be 4-1 vs 3-1-1 against guys on the list. Hell if you want to take it a step further, you could argue he forced Riddick Bowe to take an L before he even got in the ring. Of course who knows if Lewis' resume looks differently if he doesn't get the nod against Ray Mercer in a tough fight. So what necessarily puts Lewis above Holyfield? Simple! He beat Holyfield! Could've beaten him twice if judges did their jobs. The best HW of the 90s was a British dude (By way of Canada and Jamaica).
2- Evander Holyfield
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 12-4-1
Record in title fights- 8-3-1
Record against other fighters on the list- 5-4-1
I feel like the most impressive part of Evander Holyfield's resume in the 90s is that at one point during this era, Holyfield fought six straight title fights and was scheduled for twelve round fights seven fights in a row. At one point Holyfield fought four of the guys on this list in a span of five years including two rematches (against Tyson and Lewis). Evander's resume is the stuff of boxing legend and in the 90s, long before he became a parody of himself, Holyfield was insanely good. Wins over Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer and George Foreman is more than good enough to earn a guy a top 3 spot. Even his losses are for the most part insanely good as we're talking about Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer (in a fight where I do buy the theory that Holyfield was hurt) and Lennox Lewis. Throw in genuinely good tough dudes like Bert Cooper, Ray Mercer and James Stewart and it's hard to find a flaw in the resume of Holyfield. I guess it's maybe a little bit filler heavy with dudes like Bobby Czyz (go to youtube and watch the weirdness that is this fight) or Vaughan Bean? Whatever. Holyfield fights may not have all been action packed but he's got wins galore, big fights galore and a genuine spot at the top of this list.
3- Mike Tyson
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 9-3
Record in title fights- 2-3
Record against other fighters on the list- 0-3
In wrestling, one of the inside jokes is that the theme maketh the man. Have a good entrance? Good entrance song? You're golden! Tyson is proof in boxing that the aura maketh man. Tyson's 90s were....kind of bad in theory. He kicked off the 90s getting smelted by Buster Douglas in the biggest boxing upset ever and then ended the 90s almost getting DQ'd for knocking out Orlin Norris a few seconds after the first round ended. In between that? Tyson lost four years of his career to a rape conviction and beat up on good but not great fighters. Jimmy Stewart, Bruce Seldon and Razor Ruddock were good tough guys but not anybody you'd write home about. I believe in his documentary, Tyson admitted he barely trained after his prison sentence and just skirted by guys due to basically just being Mike Tyson. You could see him vs Frank Bruno and just tell the spark was gone even if he was still so good. In a way that's a testament to what Tyson was but also what he could've been. Outside of the Douglas upset, The Evander Holyfield fights didn't end Tyson's relevancy but it pretty much closed the door on Tyson's reign as a top heavyweight. Even so, it's Mike Tyson. Of course he's in the top 3.
4- George Foreman
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 12-3
Record in title fights- 4-3
Record against other fighters on the list- 1-2
It'd take a whole bushel of effort to discuss George Foreman's history in a paragraph. Just knew he was awesome in the 70s, took some time off and came back fatter and awesome-er than ever. Foreman is like Stone Cold Steve Austin who was told in WCW that he was unmarketable and then when allowed to truly be himself in greener pastures he flourished as a talker and an attraction. Foreman began his comeback at 325 lbs as a way to make some money and in time he eventually put himself into position to fight for the HW title on three different occasions. He came up short vs Morrison and Holyfield before pulling off a historic rabbit out the hat KO over Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion ever. In summation? Foreman's 90s are...strange. It's easy to make a case that Foreman could've lost fights against James Stewart (I had it for George) and Axel Schulz (I had it for Schulz)---but it's also easy to argue that Foreman should've gotten the nod over Shannon Briggs as well (arguably the worst robbery of the zillion fights I watched during this quarantine) and he was basically re-retired by boxing politics. Foreman wasn't the guy he was in his athletic prime but he was extra durable, always powerful and smarter than in year's past. He didn't have a lot of flashy wins in the 90s but we're talking about a guy who won the HW title in his 40s and beat enough top competition to be well suited for a top 5 spot.
5- Riddick Bowe
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 26-1
Record in title fights- 6-1
Record against other fighters on the list- 2-1
Riddick Bowe has been the most fascinating watch of this entire series. When I worked a night shift at a hotel in New York, one of the ways I'd pass the time was to watch old boxing fights on a portable DVD player I had. One of the fights I'd cycle through repeatedly was Bowe-Holyfield II and for a large period of time, my extent of my Bowe knowledge was that fight and the two Legendary Nights documentaries on Bowe-Golota and Bowe-Holyfield. Getting to finally sit down and sink my teeth in the resume of Riddick Bowe is something else. If you remove Bowe's fights vs Golota and Holyfield, you're left with a relatively paltry resume of nothingness but with tantalizing skills that make you wonder how good Bowe could've been. Watch Bowe run through the likes of Herbie Hide, Bert Cooper, Jorge Luis Gonazles and Pierre Coetzer and then wonder how Bowe would've done had he taken fights against Lennox Lewis (Bowe threw a belt in the garbage to avoid a Lewis fight) or Ray Mercer (Bowe vs Mercer was in the works about six different times with both guys turning down the fight at various spots) or Mike Tyson (it's believed Bowe vs Tyson was on the table once in 1991 and then once again in 1995) or George Foreman (Bowe vs Foreman was considered a possibility had Foreman beat Morrison) or Bowe vs Michael Moorer (after Moorer beat Holyfield). Bowe's resume is spiffy but the ducking, the weirdness and the weight gain that held him back all left for a faded image in hindsight. Shit I think Bowe's the only fighter on this list who was thrice involved in melees and brawls! Anyways the trilogy with Holyfield and Bowe vs Golota 1 and 2 are some of the best HW fights you'll see and well worthy of your time. On Earth 2, Andrew Golota twice beat Riddick Bowe and on Earth 3, Bowe's the HW GOAT after beating Lennox Lewis, George Foreman and Michael Moorer on top of the Holyfield fights. We live on Earth 1 unfortunately where Bowe's just #5 on the top HWs of the 90s.
6- Michael Moorer
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 21-2
Record in title fights- 5-2
Record against other fighters on the list- 1-2
I'll go to my grave believing that Michael Moorer is a victim of boxing's "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" methodology. Michael Moorer was a dominant light heavyweight who skipped a weight class and jumped all the way up to heavyweight where he beat the likes of Bert Cooper, Axel Schulz, James Stewart (who had only lost at the time to Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson) and Evander Holyfield. Moorer's heart and toughness are on full display in the Bert Cooper fight which is one of the best fights in any weight class during the 90s. Moore's legacy is defined by the George Foreman fight and an HBO documentary where we got to see Teddy Atlas yelling at him all the time. Moorer deserves better.
7- Oliver McCall
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 22-4
Record in title fights- 2-2
Record against other fighters on the list- 1-1
At first I wanted to leave Oliver McCall off this list entirely but his resume is low key impressive. Watching McCall fights on youtube, he just seems like the ultimate nuisance of a spoiler. He'd look disinterested in a fight then uncork a right hand and it'd be all over. He was the ultimate tough fight spoiler guy and if you need some evidence of that then consider that McCall took the undefeated records of Oleg Maskaev, Lennox Lewis and Bruce Seldon. He was twice a champion of one of the big four sanctioning bodies and his Lennox Lewis upside is pretty damn historic (and so is the rematch for all the more reasons). Throw in a win over a faded Larry Holmes and McCall absolutely has a worthy spot on the top 10. Imagine how much more spiffy this record would be if McCall hadn't basically taken off 3/4ths of the fight vs Frank Bruno.
8- Tommy Morrison
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 25-3-1
Record in title fights- 2-2
Record against other fighters on the list- 1-1
Watching Tommy Morrison's career in hindsight is something I'd recommend all heavyweight boxing fans do. I have no comparison for him in modern times. TheAntiCool has used the term "glass cannon" before and Morrison is probably the best example of that I've ever seen. He's super fast, super explosive, he hits really hard and was one of boxings better finishers. The downside is that he had no semblance of head movement and was not exactly blessed with David Tua's tank-esque chops and steely chin. He was dropped by guys like Razor Ruddock, Carl "The Truth" Williams and Ross Purrity not to mention obliterated by Michael Bentt and Ray Mercer. His competition is the perfect 90s mix of tomato cans and all time greats and to the credit of Morrison, he fought two of the guys in the top 5 of the 90s. He also had some of the wildest heavyweights fights of the 90s; from his mammoth brawl with Razor Ruddock to his wars with Mercer, Purrity, Williams and Joe Hipp. Morrison sums up the 90s pretty well; he never was as good as his fanboys claim but never as bad as his detractors proclaim. Also Morrison is basically Andrei Arlovski since at one point in three different fights, opposing trainers kept telling their fighters that he cannot get out of the way of any right hand.
9- David Tua
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 35-1
Record in title fights- 0-1
Record against other fighters on the list- 0-1
David Tua as a kid was a mythical figure. A Samoan Mike Tyson with insane power who was blasting people out in a round and leaving nothing remaining in his wake. In truth, I think the better comparison for David Tua is actually Tommy Morrison. Both guys were blessed with absurd gifts from God, both were known for their tremendous hooks and both were surprisingly limited which capped their upside in a tremendous division. Tua had his fair share of fights where he was losing until he won so to speak (Hasim Rahman) or was in close before he pulled it out at the end (Jeff Wooden and David Izon). Tua was fun and deserves his spot in the top 10 but the legend was never quite the fact.
10- Ike Ibeabuchi
Record in the 90s (Jan 1st 1990 to December 31st 1999)- 20-0
Record in title fights- 1-0
Record against other fighters on the list- 1-0
Watching some of Ike's fights on youtube are spooky difficult to sit through. Ike Ibeabuchi the FIGHTER was a human tank, an immovable mountain of violence. He was a dude who would just push through dudes crudely and violently with little care for what came back his way. Ibeabuchi was just a mack truck of violence with wins over then undefeated guys such as David Tua and Chris Byrd. Ibeabuchi the fighter was a tremendous display but the reason he never made it farther than #10 is that Ibeabuchi outside of the ring was....well...a problem. Ibeabuchi was desperately in need of help as a victim of undiagnosed bipolar disorder and committed some truly heinous atrocities in his life. From odd behavior such as threatening HBO executives with a knife or having people refer to him as "The President" at all times to scary behavior such as a suicide attempt that left a young man wheelchair bound. Ike Ibeabuchi would never fight again after starching future HW champ Chris Byrd in fight rounds in 1999 and would spend 20 years in jail for attempted sexual assault among a litany of other issues. I often say "People are complicated" and Ibeabuchi is one of the bigger examples of that. Ike Ibeabuchi is a case of "What If?" in more ways than one.
