Former heavyweight champion says he’s the greatest of all time, not Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is seen by most as ‘The Greatest’ in boxing, but a former world heavyweight champion doesn’t seem to agree.

Ali helped transcend boxing, starting when he first became the heavyweight champion of the world when he defeated Sonny Liston at the age of 22 in 1964.

He was then stripped of his title in 1967 after he refused to participate in the Vietnam War, missing nearly four years of his career but becoming a global cultural icon in the process.

Against all odds, Ali then became World Heavyweight Champion again at the age of 32 when he defeated George Foreman in the iconic ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ in 1974.

Ali also defeated other greats such as Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Floyd Patterson and Earnie Shavers during his career, making it clear why most consider him the greatest to ever do it.

However, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is apparently not one of them after he told Seconds Out that he considers himself to be the greatest of all time, not Ali.

“I’m the only four-time heavyweight champion in the world, but they still talk about Ali when I broke his record. I’ve been the only four-time heavyweight champion in the world for 24 years.

“You can’t talk about it until you break someone’s record, they don’t say anything about me. How do you cut someone out of history? Now, I didn’t even know I was the first person to go uncontested in two weight divisions until Usyk did it.

“They keep saying Ali is the best fighter, no I am. He was three times, I’m four.”

Like Holyfield said, he was the undisputed cruiserweight champion in the late 1980s before moving up to heavyweight and repeating the feat in the early 1990s, something only he had achieved before Oleksandr Usyk managed it in 2024 .

His four world heavyweight championships came from 1990 to 1992, 1993 to 1994, 1996 to 1999 and then finally from 2000 to 2001, again making him the only man to achieve that distinction.

Holyfield defeated the likes of Mike Tyson, Foreman, Riddick Bowe and Larry Holmes during his career, but while he may feel he deserves more credit, he has also named the current world champion who he feels is more dangerous than former foe Tyson .