Tyson challenges Holyfield before going to jail

I would put the Bowe 2 version of Holyfield

 

Holyfield at that time wasn't physicailly strong enough to manhandle Tyson. Evander was around 205lbs he was very quick and threw alot of punches. Holyfield might have been too light in the ass to back Mike up.

I think Tyson had the physical edge against Evander but the otherside is his mental state. Tyson had enough Ieft to break Rudock's jaw and beat him twice.

He had also practically chased Alex Stewart out of the ring in less than a round. The same Stewart that had gone toe to toe with Holyfield and also would go the distance with him.

I can't say I would bet the farm on Tyson. I suspect he should win but the unknown element of just what Tyson will do when it gets hard.

 

So would I.
We can see the difference those 12lbs made for Evander's punch. He couldnt hurt Bowe for 12 rounds then Bowe gets shook early in the rematch. Several times later Holyfield backed Bowe up.

 

I think it wouldn't have been worse than with Buster, when—prepared for a quick execution and completely out of shape—he took a beating for almost the entire eight rounds, only to drop Buster to the mat with 10 seconds left at the end.

If the referee had stopped the fight then, to this day we'd say Tyson had extraordinary fighting spirit and a huge heart, because it would have been an incredible comeback. But because it happened the way it did, we say Tyson quit at the first sign of trouble. It's as if Buster hadn't landed him in the 10th round, but he'd quit against Holyfield or Lewis while still having a chance.
Mike lost seven fights, but he only bit in one, and as Holyfield himself said, he did it when he started to take control. He essentially did the same with Botha, Golota, Norris, Savarese...

 

It's comical how carefully everyone is sidestepping that a journeyman named Bert Cooper almost took Holyfield out while fighting in Tyson's place. Tyson probably would've won on that night.

 

But Holyfield would have had a full camp and been fit and focused solely on Mike. Wasn't Bert a replacement for a replacement? Damiani had been Tyson's replacement. For me that fight was another example of Holyfields incredible resilience. He was shaken to the boots yet came back and stopped Bert without the outside assistance some of our champs have had...glass half empty, glass half full, you decide...

 

OK, almost getting knocked out by a journeyman is definitely a positive. You've convinced me.

 

Stop with the ol' all you had to do was not be scared of Tyson and you could beat him myth. Fearlessness didn't work for Frazier, Berbick, Ruddock, Thomas and company. Holyfield didn't fear Tyson but there's more to it than that. Holyfield had the skills but he wasn't the physical tank he was in 1996 and he didn't have the loss to Bowe to teach him a lesson about brawling.

 

Yeah Holyfield was 205 and had respectable punching power at heavyweight but he didn't have the dynamite in his gloves that a 205 pound Joe Louis had.

 

Bert Cooper did KO Joe Savage in 1 round.

 

Now if Bert Cooper, who gave up against Foreman, went to war with Mercer, got KTFO in 2 against Bowe but had Holyfield on life support and came thisclose to landing a fight ending KO...

Holyfield is far from unbeatable as well. Tyson gets in shape for this one and Holyfield would have to fight for the vacant belts against Ruddock

 

Douglas walked away with one punch, although I think he was 208lbs at the time

 

Exactly. The fight was more or less 50/50 in my head for some time but everything you said above will factor in. And many other points people forget to mention.

Here's another fact: who would Duva and Benton bring in for sparring? Probably Bert Cooper. There was no David Tua or Gary Bell or whoever else emulated Tyson at the time.

 

IMO, any version of Tyson in 87 or 88 is too much for any version of Holy in any year.

 

This is one of several myths surrounding Tyson.
The second irritating one is that he always backed down when he was in trouble. Seriously? He didn't back down against Douglas, he didn't back down against Holyfield 1, he didn't back down against Ruddock, Lewis, or Danny Williams, he was hurt against Bruno 1.
Holyfield wrote in his book that before the bite, he felt Tyson was gaining the upper hand and didn't understand his biting. He did the same with Savarese, Botha, Norris, Golota—all in fights where he had a comfortable advantage and at times when he was struggling mentally. Perhaps the antidepressants kicked in later. Remember how he acted before the fight with Lewis or Danny Williams?

The third myth is that Tyson was happy to get into his head and then it was over. I have no idea why he thinks that. Tyrell Biggs and Larry Holmes were the most likely to get into his head. Getting into Tyson's head seems like the worst thing anyone could have done. The best thing was simply the calm Buster and Holy displayed.