Holyfield hit hard but I don't think he ever had that shattering power that perked people's ears up. He looked like he hit harder than he did imho. Holy's strength was gameness and combination punching coupled with good timing. Honestly he looked better when he boxed guys than when he tried to blast them out.
What? He actually hit harder than it looked (see: Bowe brain scrambled eggs). See: Holyfield KO Tyson
I doubt it, but watching that fight in a vacuum, you'd certainly think Holyfield was the harder hitter. He was consistently hurting Tyson.
He was a helluva lot more accurate at that point. He was a puffed up cruiserweight roided out of his brain fighting real HWs who were juicing just as much- all the props he deserves for not only bossing Tyson but beating the fight out of him.
Correct. He threw the whole kitchen sink at a washed up post prison Tyson and finally got a standing TKO in the eleventh hour , he hit glass cannon Moorer with everything he had and again got a Ref stoppage vs a fighter who old Foreman waxed with one shot..........a shot Tyson stopped Botha and Golata, basically, with one shot and both are not china chinned, Holyfield has never ever displayed that kind of power.
Somebody finally gets it.................post prison Tyson was a completley different fighter, the only thing left from pre prison was chin and power, thats it but according to forum gospel spending close to 4 years in jail and fighting barely more than a half dozen rounds in 5 1/2 years you are still "Prime"......
He also stunned Tyson numerous times in their first bout. It's a myth that Tyson was actually better in the second fight, quite the opposite if you ask me, Tyson had a fair bit of success against Holyfield in their first meeting, it's just that it never fazed him.
If I remember rightly Tyson had a very good 5th round actually rocking Holyfield and landing good shots. But then Holyfield halted the momentum in the 6th round with the knockdown, and then from that point on it was all Holyfield.
No. But as said earlier, timing and placement can be huge. Nobody would say Holyfield hit as hard as Lennox Lewis, or Tommy Morrison for that matter. Lewis & Morrison hit Ray Mercer with all kinds of shots and Mercer didn’t go anywhere. Holyfield hit Mercer with one perfectly timed left hook and Mercer reeled back and took a knee. Holyfield almost took out Riddick Bowe with one left hook as well.
Ruddock, Berbick, Thomas, Holmes, Tillis, McNeely, and Williams were not even remotely scared of Tyson, stared him down, and fought aggressively with heart but got knocked down anyways. I think Seldon, Spinks, and possibly Tubbs were the only ranked guys genuinely afraid of Tyson.
I agree with the overall premise here, not the black & white fear on or off conclusion. Most boxers have some fear, even if it is of humiliation & defeat, but usually manage it well. Also McNeeley seemed afraid to me-I see no other likely explanation for only looking away from Tyson vaguely into the air like a Special Child during the ring introductions. That he may have charged at Tyson in part to compensate-but it might have been his best but still remote shot-does not mean he was not scared. I do not think anyone afraid would have beat him anyway. But you forgot Smith, possibly Green (although the latter was never tightly wrapped so it may not have been fear). I do think Bonehugger had some fear.
You are AB-solutely correct! Holyfield hit fairly well for a HW-which is waaay harder than an average man can hit. Doing so accurately & in quick combination &/or by surprise might have the This content is protected of a This content is protected harder 1 punch Monster. Also I am sick of the cynical, completely unsupported allegations that everyone used PEDs. That extreme concludion requires extreme evidence. There IS none. Some used regularly. Some just dabbled. Some never touched it. And nobody knows whether to answer "yes" or "no" to whether This content is protected boxers did or did not do ANY of these three things.
McNeely was grinning from ear to ear looking Tyson right in the eyes. The only other boxer to stare back at Tyson so confidently was Ruddock. It was one of the most intense stare downs in Tyson's career and it made no difference. McNeely seemed awfully confident to me.
