“I’m better than Ali”: Heavyweight legend says his record proves that he’s really the best ever

Not many fighters would boldly claim that they are greater than Muhammad Ali.

Ali is arguably the biggest name in the history of boxing, becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion after wins over fellow legends like George Foreman and Joe Frazier.

He had 61 fights in total, winning 56 of them, as he dominated the sport throughout the 1960s and 1970s before hanging up the gloves.

Despite his monumental success, a former world heavyweight champion believes his own record surpasses anything that Ali achieved.

The man in question is Evander Holyfield, who explained to Seconds Out why he has come to that conclusion.

“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.”

After becoming undisputed at cruiserweight, Holyfield moved up to heavyweight and it didn’t take him long to become the sole ruler of the banner division too.

As ‘The Real Deal’ stated, he is the only four-time world heavyweight champion in history, thanks to victories over iconic fighters such as Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Larry Holmes and Foreman, so it is clear why he does indeed view himself as the best.