Prime for Prime-Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson

i agree... holyfield beats tyson always.
he had a great chin, tough mind,great heart and stamina plus the style to beat tyson.

 

i think holyfield was about to ko/tko him in the rematch (tyson probably freaked out when he shot his load and evander was still there). holyfield was robbed of a huge ko win there.

i think holyfield ko/tko him in '91.

add it all up- holyfield stops him every time. his, tyson's, best chance against holyfield was '96 when holyfield was extremely shop-worn (by his standards). still, holyfield stopped him.

 

I don't "hate" Lewis. I just think he's SUPER over-rated, and the ignorance of Lewis fanboys frustrates me. He wasn't that good imo. Any reasonably "good" fighter (eg. Lewis) can create the illusion of being "great" if managed well with a little well timed luck. Lewis didn't beat anyone of consequence in their prime. Absolutely no one. And his skills weren't that impressive.

 

86 _ 88 tyson beats evander every time .

 

holy was MUCH bigger and stronger in 96 than in 91. a lot of his gameplan revolved around muscling mike around on the inside. he wouldn't have done that in 91, he would have used movement. completely different fight imo and while i feel 91 holy was better, he was also more vulnerable

 

Tyson was coming off a near 2 year layoff when he fought Botha, he fought Holy in 97 and Botha in 99.]

Thats his second longest layoff after his 3-4 years in prison

 

:rofl

I need that stuff your smoking

 

Will to win goes a long way in this argument for me, I think Tyson had it but Holyfield had more. I think its a question of who needed more will to win and that goes to Holyfield. Through no fault of Mikes own he was too effective for his own good, he never needed the kind of will that would pull him out of the fire. So mentality wise Holyfield wins imo. People mix will to win with heart, I thought Mike showed as much heart as Holyfield in his losses (apart for the rematch of course), what he didn’t show was the will to come back, he shut down.

Then you have to look at the physical side, would all of Holyfield’s will have mattered if Tyson was too big, strong, fast and accurate. The thing that sways me in Tyson’s direction is the fact he could have done so much better in every area in his prime than he did actually do in 96. How would have Holyfield have done against the combination power punching machine that Tyson was, with stamina? Instead of the punch bag he became after round 5. Tyson had a lot of room for improvement.

I also look at it in terms of who gained and lost from that transition from 91 to 96. Holyfield lost his physical prime and was not as active, but he gained massive self belief and ring smarts, as others have mentioned. Tyson lost most of his best assets by 96, he was pretty much out of it after his prison term and gained little. Holyfield had the big advantage in reality, even though that sounds silly because he was over the hill, but Tyson was always his prize and he was going to be up for that fight, that determination to beat a guy that got all the accolades counts for a lot.

That’s really a brief idea of my thoughts on this match up. I do think these guys in their prime would have put on a totally different fight from the largely boring 96 version. I still sway towards Holyfield because of his will, he showed he would just drill guys until they gave up when he was at his best, and he wouldn’t give in until he was flattened himself. That kind of will is not easy to overcome, I’m not sure Mike could have done it over a long fight, he was never known for his fight plans and he would need one in this case.

Edit: - apologies for the repeated use of the word "will"!

 

First to 100 wins. It's the law.

 

roids will do that for you!

 

Yep Tyson almost certainly took jungle juice....

 

No evidence Tyson ever used. A;so he was near 200 lbs. without being tall or fat in his early teens.

 

I admit in hindsite I've come to the same conclusion. But back in the day I too thought he was going to be anywhere from Top 3 ATG to the very best. But there are still a number of posters here who continue to believe that at his best he would walk through anyone. The problem is, they mostly basis this on fighters who were scared ****less of him before the fight even started. Holyfield wasn't one of those fights, neither were many of the ATG's.

 

I'd still go with Evander to beat any version of Mike, but it would have been bloody on both sides of the battle field.

 

No proof Holyfield used PED's, facts are when they fought Holyfield took Tyson apart twice....