Lennox Lewis is viewed as one of the best heavyweight fighters of all time.
He was a three-time world champion and also reigned as undisputed in the banner division, serving as the last undisputed king until Oleksandr Usyk repeated the achievement in 2024.
Lewis took on a number of big names throughout his career, including Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko.
When it came to pinpointing the best he ever fought, there was only one heavyweight that the Brit felt he could choose, telling Ring Magazine that it was Holyfield.
“He had everything. He had the defence; he had the offence.”
Lewis and Holyfield met on two occasions, with the first fight taking place at Madison Square Garden in March 1999. It ended in a split decision draw, despite most onlookers believing that Lewis had done enough to claim the victory.
The controversy meant an immediate rematch took place in Las Vegas eight months later, and on this occasion it was Lewis that got the win by unanimous decision, adding the WBA and IBF titles to his WBC belt to become undisputed.
Just like Lewis, Holyfield had a stellar career, which began with him becoming undisputed at cruiserweight before moving up to heavyweight.
He managed to become undisputed at heavyweight too, claiming wins over the likes of Tyson, George Foreman, Larry Holmes and Riddick Bowe.
Holyfield remains the only four-time heavyweight champion in history, and he recently explained how he feels that should earn him the moniker of the greatest of all time, rather than fellow legend Muhammad Ali.
