Yeah, Cooper, Toney and Bowe had faster feet than Louis Where do you have eyes? He showed quick feet more times than any of these fighters I mentioned (except Holmes, but we're talking about 40 years old Holmes - not prime one).
Definitely not, a big part of Holyfield’s success was his durability, he was a naturally smaller man taking punches from power punching super heavyweights, Louis’ chin is considered OK in an era with small heavyweights, how would he be able to deal with the huge difference in power, especially when he isn’t even an elusive fighter?
I'm sure Holyfield would have struggled or even lost to some Louis opponents. Marciano, Walcott & Charles would have the best chance. Conn, Moore & Schmeling would give him fits & potentially pull of an upset.
I didn't write Holyfield was slow or without great balance . Don't know where you read that but it wasn't from me.
Durability could only get you so far, you won't have Louis reign because you're more durable. Besides, Louis took a lot of powerful shots from punchers bigger and stronger than him. The idea that he only had "OK chin" is not backed up with facts.
Not one of the fighters he mentioned had fast feet. None of them relied on footwork beyond the basics. All of them landed, landed frequently (except Cooper), and landed hard on Holyfield. They didn’t need to use excess lateral movement to do so. Why would Louis? That was the point of his post. It shredded your entire argument to pieces because you “analyze” boxing like it’s as simple as a game of tic-tac-toe. It isn’t. If you weren’t fixated on your agenda you’d have taken a step back after that and perhaps realized how rudimentary your initial line of thinking was. Different things work for different fighters. You can’t just say “Well, he didn’t bounce on his toes from side to side like Holyfield did. He was flat footed. That means he wouldn’t land on Holyfield, but Holyfield would land on him.” That’s not how it works in the boxing ring between elite fighters in reality. You really need to expand your thought process.
If Holyfield stood & traded with Marciano, he sure wouldn't win that exchange in the long run. He'd get broken down slowly.
Older fighters 1920s — 1940s often get overrated imo. They were good but there wasnt much variety in styles and their eras were weak compared to the 70s and 90s. They all looked relatively stiff and plodding besides louis and you didnt see any masterful head movement until the late 40s. The bigger boxers also have gotten alot more mobile and skilled. Gerry Cooney and Riddick Bowe would severely outclass Buddy Baer and holyfield is imo better than both of them. Someone like Sonny Liston would easily compete with modern top crusierweights—heavyweights but if you take joe louis and put him in the ring with top 15 cruiserweights and heavies in the 90s or even today im not so sure but maybe im wrong
