Sonny Liston VS Evander Holyfield?

Holyfield brings out the best in Liston and also the stone cold rage.
After a competitive 6-8 round s, Liston s superior power starts to take it's toll on Evander.
Despite fighting like a champ, Holyfield is badly hurt by the tenth and Liston s big right hands drop him. Two kds later and the ref jumps in to stop the fight.
Liston wrsc 10

 

He's not elusive to the extent that Ali was, but he still combined good all-around speed & movement w/ 2-fisted fighting ability. At the end of the day, he'd be the 2nd-most well-rounded/talented fighter that Liston ever fought, & Liston fared very poorly vs. the 1st-most.

I think it would be a mistake to presume that Holy's own firepower wouldn't be a factor in this fight. Liston very seldom had to fight at a weight/size disadvantage during his era, & often enjoyed 10-20 lbs weight advantages over his opponents. By contrast, Holy routinely fought opponents w/ 10-15 lb weight advantages & has conceded anywhere from 30-100 lbs to some opponents. I wouldn't presume that a 210-215 lb Liston simply shakes off the same right hand that starched a 246-lb Douglas, or that he holds up under the same furious combos that a 257-lb Foreman or a 235-246 lb Bowe did.

 

Take your pick. It would be a war either way

 

Holyfields power is certainly nothing to be sneezed at.

However, just imo, for its best effect against Liston, it would have to be a fair accumulation of one way punishment put upon Sonny over a number of rounds.

Evander wouldn’t have the luxury of meting out that type of punishment without incurring serious return fire that would stem his propensity to freely unload - and if it didn’t stem Evander’s offence, then Holyfield would be sticking his neck out too far, increasing the likelihood of getting himself KO’d.

Per single punches landed, I think Liston has that much more chance of hurting Holyfield than the other way around and Liston could fight in close as well as at range.

Like Ali, Evander was a great all rounder but not comprised of the exact same fortes as Ali - especially in terms of mobility and evasiveness - the aforementioned attributes being crucial keys to Ali’s successes against Sonny.

 

Holyfield takes a comfortable decision or stops Liston late.

 

He’s not even half as elusive as Ali was. Let’s not kid ourselves and pretend holyfield can do to a prime Liston what Ali did to a faded version of him.

Sonny Liston is known as one of the biggest punchers in the sport’s history, holyfield isn’t even considered a one punch knockout artist. Unless you actually contest this, their weights don’t have much bearing on the matter.

I wouldn’t presume knocking out a fat and out of shape buster Douglas who couldn’t even be bothered to try getting up, means you can knockout a guy who shook off Cleveland Williams’s best shots. Douglas isn’t as tough as Liston, regardless of the weight difference.

he’s not landing nearly as much on liston as he did ether of them. Sonny was much better at maintaining distance than foreman or bowe, and demonstrated better head movement and defence in general.

 

He moved up and was smaller in his first few fights, he pumped his body with peds to reach the same size let's be honest. Liston was also much stronger and a massive power. Not saying Holyfield doesn't win tho, I think he can snatch it

 

He doesn't have to be as elusive as Ali in order to rock Liston w/ his punches the way Ali did.

My point wasn't about their own weights, but those of their opponents - Holy routinely hit & was hit by opponents with significant size advantages over him. He's withstood bombs from powerpunchers that were much larger than Liston, & the same punches that failed to hurt/floor 235-257 lb opponents wouldn't necessarily have the same lack of impact on a 210-215 lb Liston.

I don't presume Holy outright KOs Liston w/ that (or any other one) shot either, but I wouldn't presume that Liston isn't at least hurt/staggered by that or other Holy punches, either.

He was primarily effective at maintaining distance vs. shorter/smaller opponents, but against comparably-sized fighters w/ quick hands like Ali & Williams, he was hit a number of times & had to work his way to closer quarters in order to be effective.

 

Holyfield for me. Too much fight and peds in that dawg.

 

Ali’s elusiveness is what allowed him to trade with liston. Holyfield would hardly be able to throw combinations with liston sticking his jab into his face.

The hardest puncher evander ever faced was George Foreman, as holyfield himself said so. George and Sonny were comparable in power according to their common opponents. Now I’m not saying Liston is gonna knockout holyfield in the first round or anything, but he’d hit harder than most of holyfield’s opponents, even the bigger ones. That doesn’t bode well for holyfield when Liston is also a master boxer who can fight inside and out.

hurt maybe, but not as much as holyfield would be.

Firstly, Most of the contenders liston fought were six foot or above, essentially the same height as him and holyfield. Secondly, Liston had a 84 inch reach, so holyfield is still at a disadvantage. Cleveland Williams landed a few punches here and there but he was still throughly outboxed. Liston demonstrated good defence against him. Ali is Ali, he’d land a lot on ANYONE, and that was a faded version of liston at that.

 

I'd bet on Holyfield to win, but it depends on which Real Deal we see. If it's pre Bowe, then Liston takes it, and if it's post Bowe, then the fight is Evander's.

 

I lean towards Holyfield if he fights a smart fight which is a big if

 

My head says Liston if it’s peak, motivated Sonny but there’s a voice whispering in my ear that this might be a problematic matchup for him although I am struggling to put into words why.

 

That's the exact reason I'd pick Liston to be honest.

Holyfield always talked in the build ups about how he was going to box and then he'd get hit and start a brawl. Evander would wing a six punch combination back like a mad lad and start just trading which is not how you beat Liston.

Liston's reach and jab might be a huge factor as well.

 

Fair argument, because it's true. I just rate Holyfield as an overall higher calibre of fighter than Liston. That said, and to be fair, I have never sat down and analysed how their styles mesh.