Heavyweight Legend Says Muhammad Ali Is Not The Greatest Of All Time: “I Am”

A retired heavyweight champion ranks himself higher than ‘The Greatest’, Muhammad Ali.

Ali burst onto the scene in the early 1960s after an accomplished amateur career which saw him capture an Olympic gold medal at the 1960 games in Rome.

He defeated the legendary Sonny Liston via sixth round knockout in their 1964 battle and went on to make nine defences of his crown, defeating the likes of Cleveland Williams and Henry Cooper along the way.

After making a return to the sport in 1970 following a three year hiatus, Ali re-established himself as one of, if not the best heavyweight on the planet.

He dispatched of reigning heavyweight champion George Foreman in the eighth round of the 1974 showdown, perhaps more commonly known as ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’.

Despite being arguably the greatest fighter to have ever laced up the gloves, retired two-weight undisputed champion Evander Holyfield revealed in an interview with Seconds Out that he believes he is actually the greatest of all time ahead of Ali.

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

“You can’t talk about it until you break someone’s record, they don’t say nothing about me. How do you cut somebody out of history? Now I didn’t even know I was the first person to be undisputed 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.”

Holyfield became the first fighter in boxing history to achieve undisputed status at both cruiserweight and heavyweight after he defeated Buster Douglas in 1990.

Although he is rarely considered to be the greatest heavyweight ever, ‘The Real Deal’ still receives plaudits from fans and pundits all over the world after what was a glittering professional career.