If Holyfield Was A Rising Contender Now ?

One thought i have sometimes is that fighters like holyfield and to a lesser extent Frazier are what make outstanding eras. Guys with plenty of heart, stamina and will but not capably of simply blowing fighters away. These guys are good enough to win a world title and maybe even have good reigns, but not quite good enough to simply dominate and blow away the competition like John L Sullivan, Tyson, Liston, Dempsey etc.

This means that when they do defend their titles, there will always be someone (who may not necessarilly even be that great themself) who can make a competive fight of it. This is why the 90s was considered a nothing talent era at one stage yet is now considered one of if not the Best eras ever. This was not the case, until Holyfield came along, and fought a losing series wih Bowe.

If Holyfield hadnt of got up off the canvas and beaten Bowe, no one would consider the era much good. IN fact, when you think about it, two old 70s fighters were top fighters in the era. Both actually had distance fights with Holyfield one of them years after Tyson had already outclassed him. If Holyfield had simply KOd these two like he should have or if he had kod Bowe easily, Neither him or his era would have been as good as it is perceived now through Holy performing less well.

With this theory, i think that Holyfield in the current era, could easily fight say Wilder, Parker and Joshua and create great fights and turn the era into an era which is perceived as one of the greatest ever. In contrast if Tyson or Dempsey were here, they would each get blown away and it would be perceived as a week era. if you look at the great "eras", they always have a common thread which is a fighter with huge heart, who takes part in wars and wins and loses against the other top contenders.

 

Wait a minute. Are you telling me you think Holyfield deserved a draw vs Lewis in their first fight?

Like I said on a fair score card he's 1-4 vs Bowe and Lewis. Was Moorer elite?

Valuev is not around today, nor is he in Lewis or Bowe class. The Ruiz trilogy left a bit of a stain on Holyfield's record, even if he was past it by then.

Like I said the division is very untested right now, I'd pick Holy to beat Wilder, Charr and Parker. Joshua, I need to see more of.

 

He could beat any of these current guys and all of the fights would be exciting because he tended to fight to the level of his competition.

 

He'd catch a ped ban or two if he was up to the same tricks as he was in the early 90s.

 

if you didnt ask dumb questions, you'd not need to ask to wait a minute - lewis won both fights.

moorer is 6 foot 2, if you include HIM in your argument, then you destroy your own argument. well done on self destruction. You must also be aware that Moorer was beaten handily by holyfield.

 

Also, he may appreciate the current crop of delicious PEDs. He may munch on them happily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 'He may.' Not 'he would.'

 

PEDS don't turn you into a great fighter. I could take the best PEDS out there it doesn't mean I could walk onto a major league baseball field and all of a sudden start hitting fast balls.
Holy was a great fighter regardless of PEDS and certainly better than any active HW today and it's not even close

 

I think Holyfield would be very successful, hes got the killer instinct and better boxing smarts than any of the new guys, although I do like what Im seeing from Wilder, Joshua etc. These guys have hearts and like to fight, not box boring from the outside. Holyfield had his ups and downs as champion getting floored by average guys.

 

Everyone is convinced he took em when he moved up to heavyweight and always mentions it but not many say that he was on Peds when he was at cruiserweight. Wasn’t he on them then?

 

Come on. He'd be getting away with less given the testing. He was juiced in the early 90s.

 

Let's face it, his path would be much more difficult today. Holyfield had a unified title served to him by a pathetic version of Douglas and he had only beaten Stewart, Rodrigues, and old Dokes to get there.

 

Qawi swears he was

 

Holyfield was an ATG, a completely elite level fighter and people seem to forget that he was already battleworn and jaded by the time he beat Tyson in 1996 - The Duva team are quoted as having spotted a decline in him as early as 1992. I personally think had Holyfield retired in 1997 after the Moorer rematch, his legacy would be considered far greater. Even after Moorer 2 he fought for another 14 years!!!

However, it’s testament to his ability and heart that he fought on and was still competitive at world level until 2011, but you have to remember that it was a ghost of prime Holyfield fighting Lewis x 2, Ruiz x 3, Byrd, Ibrahimov and Valuev. If 1988 - 1992 heavyweight Holyfield was around today, I’m confident that he cleans up.

 

Holyfield had the skill to compete in any era. The skill and the heart. However he was juiced and while I believe fighters still juice, it is more strict testing and I think he would either get caught or do it in a manner where it wouldn’t be as beneficial to him.
Early 90s Holyfield I believe defeats Wilder easy, Joshua need more to see, and Parker in a good fight but clear for Evander. Fury would pose big problems just so big and moves so well for Evander.
Late 90s Holyfield is anyone’s guess. He was wildly erratic in his performances from the 3rd Bowe fight on. He had Bowe our but couldn’t finish him, then he struggled and looked awful against Bobby Cyzyz, he looked shot in that fight. Which led to him getting the Tyson bout. Than he rebounded and looked fantastic against a man he was dying to fight for 10 years. Than he looked so so against bean, bad in Lewis 1, good in Lewis 2, bad across the board against Ruiz. Etc.
late 90s Holyfield wins some and loses some. The one that beat Douglas - destroys wilder and beats Parker. I would make him the favorite over Joshua until I see more and would make him slight underdog to Fury

 

Holy could have hurt AJ easily and if he had Wilder in trouble like the slower-fisted Ortiz did he`d finish him no problem! Holy wasn`t a natural light heavy there isn`t a light heavy in history who could of gone the distance with him at cruiser, he was lethal at that weight and his combo`s were brutal, four punches have more effect than one big punch and he was the greatest counter puncher Tyson has ever seen according to him.