Lewis fought a couple of fighters later in their career which questions his legacy that little bit (Holyfield/Tyson) But these guys were running from him for a long time, well at least Don King was perhaps.
Loved Lewis, would have loved to see him against other generational stars and I too have become more objective about his career over the years but please don't give me that old pony about a 'peak' Tyson. He was a classic American hype job who lost all of his career defining fights and even still people can't accept it. Who were the best 'peak' fighters he ever fought? Holmes was done when they fought, he'd been beaten by Douglas by 1990, couldn't work out a way to beat Holyfield. So who were these great fighters he was beating? Frank Bruno IMO is about as far as it stretched.
Tyson was exciting, scary, and a new breed of heavyweight. BUT, he never quite fulfilled his promise and I wish we had that acknowledgement when we talk about him. He was ****ing brilliant for he heavyweight scene but when we review him on balance- he falls short, marginally, of Lewis and Holyfield.
Had he beaten Lewis/Holyfield in the mid 90s, he'd go down as an absolute great but they were the benchmark and although he had lots going on behind the scenes, he lost those defining fights. (Lewis fight should have happened 7 years earlier id say)