Did Foreman ruin Holyfield?

Indeed it was the fight that ruined Holyfield.
He soon after went off the deep end, becoming a religious zealot and roid junkie, and siring many illegitimate children out of wedlock.

He had another good stretch from late 96 to early 98, but that was mostly an aberration, some extra help from favorable reffing

 

I think Holy was fortunate to have faced the "armchair and slippers" version of George.

The seventies version would have ruined him worse.

 

Seeing as Holyfield beat Bowe 2.5 years later, Tyson 3 years after that, Moorer 1 year after that and Rahman 4.5 years after that, I really don't see how the Foreman fight "ruined" Holyfield. He was competing well against Lewis 8.5 years later.

I watched the fight the other day and thought Holyfield completely schooled him, giving Foreman 3 rounds would be generous. He had some limited success in spurts but was thoroughly outboxed and clearly rocked on two occasions by the 49 lbs lighter Holyfield. It wasn't surprising to me that Foreman said Holyfield was the most skilled fighter he ever faced.

 

Duva said he saw damage. Next thing you knew, he was gone.

 

As someone who's 4th favorite fighter is Holy, I would not want to watch this fight. Holy's stubbornness, tendency to slug it out with huge punchers, would see him take some serious, and likely irreversible damage before finally succumbing to Foreman's power.

 

This.

 

I think his fight against Bowe took more mileage out of him, and I consider that fight the end of Holy's prime.

 

You realize that's not true, right ? The overwhelming majority of his 200 million (US) plus fortune is from the grille ...

 

I think Holyfield won on points quite fairly; THAT is the bottom line.
Another thing is that in the 12th round Foreman tried to go for the knockout, and hit very hard, and that can change the picture of the whole fight.
Holyfield deservedly won on points.

 

Keep in mind, he was 28 with a slug friendly style. He was still in title talks til post Lewis(thought he beat Valuev but thats another convo) but that's a common point for fighters to go past prime if not shot.


Holyfield always credits Foreman for his power but I really think it was the two wars w Bowe that took away his prime. Bowe was never the sane after the trilogy either tbh. Imho his peak was 88-92. He did struggle w Cooper n Holmes but I still think he was top shape then until losing to Moorer in 94.

 

What I remember from that era was that the jury was still out on Holyfield not just a heavyweight champion but as a bonefide heavyweight.

You must remember this Holyfield era came after the recent dominance and lack of confusion Tyson had brought to the title scene.

So far Evanders heavyweight opponents had been trial horse types..and but for a win over Tyson, even Douglas looked like a trial horse too.

Tyson was incarcerated. Douglas was rightly or wrongly regarded as a fluke. As a heavyweight Holyfield had been exciting but already Evander had been life and death with veteran Mike Dokes a fighter dismissed at world level years earlier than the previous champion.

Later Evander gained some credibility losing bravely to Riddick and winning the return. Even then I thought it a little strange it only came after he had lost the title one time. It seemed everything after this was a surprise. after losing to Moorer Evander actually became quite disregarded until beating Tyson.

The Tyson win gave Evander a more retrospective credibility that took into account the journey so far. A credibility that has stuck, that stands up only after that point.

But then did the Tyson Holyfield fight that gave Holyfield this even represent the most relevant example of a fight to decide the best available heavyweights of that time?

I don’t think so.

so when was Holyfields prime?

 

It's after the fact so I think ppl take for granted how much ppl feared Ali getting in there w George. I will look at more accounts of it pre fight inevitably as I do have a couple of Ali books.


Even off the back foot, Holyfield just doesn't have the IQ of Ali or even the defense of Young. Even Young admitted he was doubting his chances of surviving. George was one of the most terrifying boxers ever in his prime very curious about how his film will portray him.

 

To be fair, I'd give Holyfield a much better chance at beating '77 Foreman.

 

I don't think so. I think that younger Foreman might catch a lightning right cross.. change up that Foreman's game a bit..

Sorry, folks. Holyfield had the chin and the skills to be one of the very few.. Holyfield COULD PUNCH with great skill.. any angle.. any punch in the book.. against Foreman, Liston, Dempsey, Tyson.. whoever. And if that puncher didn't have great boxing skills, Holyfield would get there first, when it mattered.

I don't know how Savarese got up from that left hook.

 

Hoylfield probably did take some heavy damage in that fight given his praise of Foreman's bludgeoning power, but he won very convincingly. He boxed smart for the most part and didn't just trade blows or get pummeled against the ropes. Given his monumental success in the years to come, I would say it's a stretch to say this fight ruined him. This wasn't the last fight where he used his legs, defense, etc, but he did start bulking up quite a bit. I think it was the right decision given he was really a natural cruiserweight.