Prime Mike Tyson is h2h #1 heavyweight in history. Usyk is #2, Vitali #3, Fury #4, Lennox Lewis #5

I see what you did there putting Lennox Lewis at #5.

 

Lennox- Maybe #1
Tyson- the guy from Berbick to Spinks, maybe. But he was not consistent enough to be #1 overall.
Ali- where's he at? He would be the third contender for #1
Usyk- I think he's a long night for anyone and a good top 5 choice, but let's see how he finishes.
Vitali- didn't beat good enough opponents to be on here. Not proven.
Fury- What in the world? Dear god, no.

Some other mentions...

Holyfield-long day for anyone, though he lost prime fights, and there is the PEDs thing.
Holmes-a head to head favorite, unproven against good competition to me
Louis- a god, but its tough to say a guy knocked down by Galento and Braddock would make it today
Wladdy- maybe too fragile against punchers
Frazier- maybe just a bit too small
Foreman- stretches anyone he can hit, but not good enough against movers.
Liston- didn't face enough big quality guys to be proven.

 

My problem with putting Lewis anywhere near the top position is he didn’t face any elite boxers in his career. Guys that moved or had an excellent jab. Lewis looks great but he conveniently fought styles that consistently favored him. Primarily sluggers with average to poor footwork. Zero southpaw (Sanders, Moorer, Byrd). Would be nice had he fought a Larry Donald, or a Larry Holmes. As it were, Rahman, Ruddock, Tua, Bruno, Mercer, Grant, Botha, Morrison were all straight line guys and the two with even average Jabs Mercer and Bruno gave Lewis problems.

 

Quite a ridiculous statement if you're nit picking Lennoxs resume. You can make that argument about all the boxers on the list.

Who did Usyk face, Fury and Joshua? Who did they beat?
Same for Tyson?

Old man Lennox beat Vitali, so surely there would be no problem putting him ahead of Vitali on any h2h list.

 

Good analysis. Thoughts on Riddick Bowe?

 

Lennox, Ali, Mike Tyson, Bowe and possibly Usyk and Holmes would all be top 4-6 for me in a prime for prime H2H sense.

My issue with Usyk is that he would stylistically struggle against a lot of the great fighters H2H such as Frazier, Mike Tyson, Lennox. I'd have to back Ali against Usyk too.

Vitali - tough fighter but lost to an old Lennox and I'm not confident on Vitali against movers - also pretty thin record.
Wlad - can't see his chin holding up and would struggle in the long-run against H2H greats.
Louis - great for his time but a very different time for boxing.
Liston - he could be up there but falls in a pretty similar category in terms of flaws to both Vitali/Wlad.
Young Foreman - had a lot of holes in his game but probably hit the hardest of them all. Hated those that could box.
Holyfield - great fighter but just didnt have enough for the absolute best H2H's such as Bowe.
Fury - might have had the potential if he had a more dedicated lifestyle but clearly nope.

 

Quality post

 

I think that you make some really valid points, I would however probably line them up something like this instead:

1. Anthony Joshua
2. Hasim Rahman
3. James Toney
4. Wladimir Klitschko
5. Roy Jones jr.

You know how it is with opinions, everyone has one.

 

Ali
Holmes
Tyson
Lewis
Louis
Holyfield
Foreman
Vitali
Frazier
Bowe

 

Tyson doesn't have the dimensions to be number 1 he lost to Douglas because of his 83 inch reach he couldn't deal with the 12 inch reach advantage. Tyson would still be very high but not number 1 due to his height and reach.

Vitali is overrated H2H his resume is very weak and he lost to two of the best fighters he fought when he had big advantages. Byrd only had a weeks notice and Lewis was out of shape and old.

Fury wouldn't even be in the top 20 let alone top 5.

Usyk is very good H2H but certainly not top 5 no.

 

H2H matches are so subjective so idk

 

I didn't name anyone on the list. I was speaking in general terms about placing Lewis near the h2h top. Fact is he didn't face many back foot operators, good jabbers or movers in his career. He tends to get slightly overrated in a h2h sense because of that.
As for the guys you mentioned -Well Joshua and Fury both faced Usyk and lost. Lewis never fought anyone remotely like Usyk in his entire career. A southpaw with endless stamina, great legs and defense. By contrast Usyk has now faced more guys closer to Lewis in style than the reverse.
As for Tyson he faced many boxer type guys like Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks, Carl the Truth Williams, Tony Tubbs and Tyrell Biggs just for starters. Peak Tyson is a H2H nightmare and as far as guys on this list I would place him at the top.

So to answer the OP's question of the options given I would have to place
Tyson 1
Usyk would place 2 but his body of work is not deep enough for me in the division so he gets an incomplete
Lewis and Vitali are splitting it close, Do I like the better chin in Vitali or the bigger punch in Lewis. I feel Lewis faced better competition overall so he nicks it.
Vitali 4
Fury 5
I can see all these guys on their best night defeating the other guys but Tyson the most often.

 

He actually beat more movers then Lennox lol. Beat both Larry Donald and Herbie Hide stopping both so he actually showed he's pretty good against movers.

 

Incidentally, Riddock Bowe said Herbie Hide was the hardest puncher he ever faced