I love Joe and think he would most likely beat Holyfield himself, but, on the whole, I'm about 85% certain Holyfield would do better against common opposition.
If you had each of them, at their best, face every HW Champion that lived. Who would have the better record when it's all said and done?
There is gets tricky. Frazier was long on consistency, and quality of performance. It basically took another great fighter to beat him. There were certain styles that were always going to be his kryptonite however. Holyfield was inconsistent, and it did not take another great fighter to beat him. Stylistically however, he had a chance against pretty much anybody. So we match them both from Sullivan to Fury, and don't factor in attrition? Frazier would have the better of the argument, for most of the timeline, but Holyfield would start to take over when the heavyweights got bigger.
That's surprisingly definitive, Reinhardt. Bonavena went close with Joe and I can't think of anything Ringo did that Holyfield couldn't do better. I think this is a 6-5 pick 'em. I wouldn't bet the house on either so I'd be interested to see how you see it panning out. Do you think Holyfield hooks with a hooker and comes unstuck?
Holy for me, I think. He would be a hard fight for just about anyone, while Frazier was a slow starter and always there to be hit, which is bad news when coming up against bigger, more powerful quick starters like Louis (well, not bigger in terms of weight, but otherwise he fits), Liston, Foreman, Tyson and Lewis.
Frazier at his best would do better for me. "In the lab". By way of video game analysis. But it's a little unfair. Frazier's best maybe lasted two fights, total. If you put them in actual careers against a really good field, Holyfield would streak away with it. There's nothing between them as far as who was tougher over fifty minutes or so, but as to who was tougher, to the bone, in depth, teak tougher, it's Holyfield all the way. He was made of different stuff, the very hardest of stuff. Again, it's just for me, but I feel as sure as one can about these kind of guesses that Frazier would steamroll Holyfield in a fight - but I feel equally sure that Holyfield would win a trilogy.
Holyfield, this dude fight so many different styles and give everyone a tough fight. And he would give every other ATG a hard fight, no mather if its Ali, marciano or liston
Best for best, which I believe is the thread question, Frazier. The Frazier of FOTC beats Holy eleven times out of ten.
Agreed. Holy had he better chin by a mile, was the better boxer, had more height / reach, a more creative offense, and also was better on the counter or the body. The only think Frazier was clearly better at was the left hook and long term stamina for rounds that no longer exist.