I don’t must let you know what was the “golden age” of heavyweight boxing. I don’t must let you know as a result of (a) Kieran Mulvaney already advised you yesterday, and (b) should you’re any type of a boxing fan in any respect, you simply know. When else might heavyweight boxing have peaked however the Nineteen Seventies, when Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and a bunch of further badasses who might have been champs in virtually another period roamed the earth.
However what’s the next-best heavyweight period? Nicely, the Large Mulvowski advised you that too, however that was simply, like, his opinion, man. The actual fact is that there’s a variety of room for debate as soon as we get previous the universally agreed upon reality that the ’70s was once they have been kings.
Among the many handful of eras within the combine for the runner-up spot are the Nineteen Nineties, headlined by Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and Mike Tyson; and the present crew (who don’t match fairly as neatly into a specific decade), dominated by Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
And as 2024 provides strategy to 2025, we’re in an attention-grabbing place with these fashionable heavyweights – a spot considerably much like the place we have been precisely 25 years in the past, when 1999 grew to become 2000 and all of our computer systems continued functioning regardless of nice fears on the contrary.
1 / 4-century in the past, the three high heavyweights of the period, Holyfield, Lewis and Tyson, have been mixing and matching with one another as they rolled into their late 30s, all within the later phases of their careers, having outlasted fellow early-’90s stars Riddick Bowe and second-career Foreman, and getting ready at hand the reins to the Klitschko brothers.
At this second, the three high heavyweights of the current period – Usyk, Fury, and Joshua – are mixing and matching with one another as they roll into their late 30s (sure, even AJ not too long ago turned 35), all within the later phases of their careers, having outlasted the likes of Deontay Wilder and late-career Wladimir Klitschko, and getting ready at hand the reins to … effectively, we don’t know who but, however presumably Daniel Dubois, Martin Bakole or Moses Itauma.
Principally, each the beginning of 2025 and the beginning of 2000 characterize the primary hints of the final gasps of a silver age of heavyweights.
And that similarity is cause sufficient to check, distinction, match ’em up, and attempt to render a judgment on whether or not heavyweight boxing was higher 25 years in the past than it’s right this moment.
And right here have been the highest 10 in line with The Ring journal within the concern cover-dated April 2000, representing the interval ended Dec. 28, 1999 – however with one adjustment made. The Ring wasn’t singling out a “champion,” however there was certainly a lineal champ on the time, so I’ve slid everybody up one spot after which borrowed from sister journal KO, which ranked 12 fighters per division, to fill the outlet at No. 10:
It’s not simple to map the 2 lists onto one another and draw 1:1 comparisons up and down the road, although there are a number of comps price cherry-picking.
“Usyk = Holyfield” is the obvious. They’re the 2 biggest cruiserweights of all time in whichever order you favor, each of whom grew to become nice heavyweight champions. The ages even line up completely – Usyk is 37, Holyfield was 37 after we rang in Y2K. However they don’t fairly align by way of the phases of their careers. Usyk is, by all appearances, peaking proper now. Holyfield, who’d had much more professional fights and, importantly, much more grueling professional fights, was in decline after going 0-1-1 over 24 rounds in opposition to Lewis in ’99.
One other equation to contemplate: “Lewis = Fury + Joshua ÷ 2.” In different phrases, Lewis, at age 34, possessed sure stylistic components of every of his fellow British behemoths. Though perhaps it ought to simply be “Lewis = Fury + Joshua,” as a result of Lennox was undoubtedly superior to both Fury or Joshua.
From there, the direct parallels get even flimsier.
You can name Wilder – who’s not even within the high 10 anymore – his period’s Tyson primarily based on punching energy, however you’d must affix a complete lot of asterisks and caveats to characterize the huge gulf between Tyson’s accomplishments and Wilder’s.
You can do a Parker = Tua factor primarily based strictly on the New Zealand connection. You can even attempt for a Tua = Wilder comp constructed round energy and one-dimensionality.
A Dubois-Grant comparability may need made sense with ’99 Grant vs. 2020 Dubois or 2002 Grant vs. 2022 Dubois, however at current, Dubois appears prone to make the comp look laughable.
Possibly Hrgovic is a really poor man’s Vitali Klitschko. Maybe you could possibly squint actual laborious and say Bakole reminds you of Ibeabuchi. Or if you wish to go simply outdoors the highest 10 of each lists, you could possibly write a thousand phrases on who wins between Andy Ruiz and John Ruiz. (Please simply perceive that no person would learn it.)
A maybe extra productive thought experiment is to take the 11 matchups, from champ to No. 10, and attempt to decide winners. Listed below are the pairings:
It’s a superb signal for the viability of this text that, of the 11 fights, I solely discover two of them simple to choose.
I make Joshua – even coming off a loss to Dubois, along with his chin as questionable as ever – a strong favourite over Golota, who all the time discovered a strategy to lose in opposition to his greatest opponents. (Among the many better-case situations for Golota is that an AJ combat would appear to be his November ’99 loss to Grant, through which the Pole began effectively however ultimately caved.)
And I’d say Byrd is a few -800 favourite over Ajagba – who’s exactly the kind of sturdy, predictable heavyweight a first-rate Byrd used to field circles round.
In order that’s one win for the 2025 gang and one win within the 2000 column. The remaining are tossups.
Think about the headliner, Usyk-Lewis. All I can say with confidence is that it could be damned shut. In any case, in 1999, Lewis narrowly received the higher of his two fights with Holyfield – contained in the constructing for each, I scored the primary for Lewis and the second a draw, whereas the judges flip-flopped these outcomes – and Holyfield was mainly Usyk with a number of extra miles on his tires.
And in 2024, Usyk gained two shut choices over Fury, which leaves it open to debate how he would do in opposition to a mountainous heavyweight who was about 5-10 per cent higher throughout the board than Fury.
Dubois, age 27, vs. Holyfield, age 37, is fascinating. If it was the Holyfield of two years earlier who was beating up Tyson, I’d favor him with out pause. If it was the Holyfield of two years later who was fighting Ruiz, I’d comfortably favor Dubois. However this matchup is near a coin flip.
Parker-Grant could appear simple primarily based on what we learn about Grant now, however he was on the time undefeated and had not but had his chin and confidence shattered by Lewis.
Fury-Ibeabuchi can also appear simple if we image the perfect model of Ibeabuchi, however there’s simply a lot we by no means realized about him, and a fighter’s greatness is all the time enhanced if we by no means witnessed his fall.
The peak distinction between the mountainous Zhang and 5ft 10ins Tua can be ridiculous, and Tua was all the time 50/50 to both chop these guys down or trudge after them spherical after spherical, barely throwing punches.
The Tyson of ’99/’00 nonetheless had each ounce of his punching energy (and never a lot else) and used it to eradicate each C-list heavyweight positioned in entrance of him in-between the Chew Struggle and his loss to Lennox. The query is whether or not Kabayel, contemporary off KOs of Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov, warrants a greater letter grade than the likes of Frans Botha, Julius Francis, Lou Savarese, or Golota.
The elder Klitschko was one thing of an unknown amount nonetheless on the flip of the century, simply as Bakole is now. We are able to decide Vitali primarily based on what he grew to become, however we’d achieve this having no concept what Bakole could change into.
Hrgovic, Jefferson, Chisora and Maskaev are a mass of mediocrity. Hrgovic has quite a bit left to show, Chisora has confirmed far an excessive amount of, Jefferson was all upside on the time however would quickly find his draw back, and Maskaev was the kind of heavyweight who might tally both a “KO” or a “KO’d by” in opposition to virtually anybody – although late ’99 and early 2000 actually discovered him on the coronary heart of his transient prime.
If pressured to choose winners in each matchup, I’m touchdown on a rating of 7-4 for the old-timers – however we’re all prone to favoring the eras after we got here of age, and it’s totally potential I’m displaying some bias for the primary group of heavyweights I lined professionally.
Nonetheless, I suppose I’ll say that, by a slim margin, the heavyweight division was stronger 25 years in the past than it’s right this moment.
It is a powerful draw for the trendy crew, although. In opposition to the heavyweight divisions of 10, 15 or 20 years in the past, it’s Group Current Day in a stroll.
Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with greater than 25 years of expertise protecting the game for such retailers as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, and The Ring (the place he served as managing editor for seven years). He additionally co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Principle. He has gained three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Exterior boxing, he’s the senior editor of CasinoReports and the writer of 2014’s The Moneymaker Impact. He will be reached on X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn, or by way of electronic mail at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.
