Foreman-Holyfield Scoring

1 Holy 10-9 (Evander is right on top of his game and looks great...but part of that has to do with Foreman seeming as though he didn't bother to warm up properly. This seems borderline inexcusable in a multi-million dollar championship fight...though he could have been concerned about going the distance.)

2 Foreman 10-9 (Though Holy landed some excellent, effective, snapping shots, Foreman connects with what might be the powerful left jab thrown in a boxing match and the whole round changes. An overhand right to the temple and Holy's eyes go momentarily blank. This must have been the time he referred to later when he said he blacked out for an instant. Foreman the clear winner of this round, despite Holy still being the Warrior and trying hard at the end).

3 Holy 10-9 (George landed a few fantastic shots to head and body, but Holy ruled the roost toward the end of the round and definitely hurt him).

4 Holy 10-9 (Evander is just plain dominating, Foreman can't get past the Perpetual Motion)

5 10-9 Foreman (Holyfield starts very well but gets hurt before the mid point. Announcers say he was taking a break but Foreman definitely hurt him. At one point Holy's eyes seem a bit out of focus, but his recuperative powers are just plain amazing)

6 10-10 Draw (both men scored very effective shots to head and body. I can't see a clear winner of this round. Holyfield was again hurt in this round, but got a couple of really good shots off, including a fine body shot, the impact of which was quite loud)

7 Holy 10-9 (This was both a tough round to score and a great three minutes to watch. Both men gave and took. Foreman landed the more significant single punches, but Holy's combinations were mighty and impressive, and he finished the round very well. I couldn't argue with a draw or Foreman scoring though)

8 Holy 10-9 (Holy is completely outworking the challenger...though he looks more fatigued at the end of the round)

9 Holy 10-9 (Foreman is fading badly, and Holy really hurts him at the end. It's very impressive to see the far outsized Evander moving Foreman around like this.)

10 Foreman 10-9 (I'm betting here is where Holy thought he had his teeth knocked out, you can hear the jaw clacking hard:

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11 Holy 10-8 (Though George is holding up remarkably well considering not just his age but the volume of punches he's taken, Holy is dominant here)

12 Holy 10-9 (Both men are really holding on in terms of exhaustion, but Holy is clearly the one in control).

117-111 Holyfield

Overall I see Holmes' performance as the stronger one against Holy, though George certainly hurt him more. Both challengers had nothing to be ashamed of after this fight, considering their age and wear they acquitted themselves as more than genuine contenders for sure.

 

I had forgotten just how competitive and exciting this fight was until the recent rewatch...the 7th round alone made everything worth it. I think even with this fight Foreman's status as top ten ATG was cemented...I remember when the fight was announced I doubted he'd go 6.

 

Holyfield's darting and usually quite busy style was just too much against a slow puncher and ponderer like George. He had more difficulty overall against Holmes...which is interesting, because he knocked the living yee-haw out of other boxers like Douglas and Dokes.
Foreman hurt Holy worse than anyone before or after (he said so himself), but Holmes outfoxed him more times than I could count during their fight. The thing that hurt Holmes was his bizarre hesitance after the cut...as Lewis mentioned during the fight, he should have been all over that cut (he might have gotten a stoppage...yeah, I'm dead serious). The fact he didn't might point out his lesser reflexes due to age. The same could be said of Foreman, who had Holy out on his feet about three times that I counted.

If Holy hadn't the extraordinary recuperative powers he showed the majority of his career, he very well might have lost both of those fights. For real.