Schmeling v. Holyfield

About the only way I could see this being competitive is if a peak Schmeling fought the smaller, less experienced cruierweight version of Evander Holyfield, and even then I wouldn't favor Max. Heavyweight Holyfield beats Schmeling with no problem.

 

Why with no problem?

This fight is verry likley to go to the score cards and that is going to give Schmeling a good chance.

In some ways I think that the dynamic cruiserweight Holyfield might be worse for Schmeling than the heavyweight version. Workrate and speed are going to be more important for Holyfield than either strength or power.

Frankly I will have to go away and think about it before I make a pick.

 

Could very well be the case, but I don't see it happening. Holyfield during his prime, was a man who could pack a respectable punch, and that was in an era of superheavys. In the 1930's, his power would have likely reaped a tad more havock against smaller men. Schmeling was not a great lover of men who could both punch and take a punch, as we saw against Max Baer. The main difference is that Holy was in better condition than anyone back then, and had skills that were more polished than the crude Baer's.

 

While Mr Holyfields power often gets sold short it was not in the same bracket as Baer or Louis. These guys are the Foreman and Tyson of the 30s/40s respectivley. While Schmeling got knocked out a few times early in his career it seems that when he was fighting at world level he was only stopped by the hardest punchers.

I say that this goes to the scorecards and Holyfield better hope that it is not in Europe.

 

I think Holyfield's power coupled with his punch volume and overall delivery system, would have made him very devastating in the 1930's. While I agree that Louis hit harder, Schmeling never made it out of the first round against a better prepared version of Louis, and Baer did not have the skills that Holyfield had. Heavyweight Holyfield stops Schmeling early. Cruiserweight Holy is a different matter.

 

Schmeling took some helacious shots from Louis in their first fight and basicaly traded with him for most of it. Baer hit him with some shots that would have finished most heavyweights and he was stopped on his feet by Max Baer.

I dont think that Holyfields power would be anything Max couldnt handel.

 

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It might not be a "very nice or easy" fight for Holyfield during the opening rounds, but I don't see Schmeling hurting the man who survived the power of Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Michael Moorer, George Foreman, and managed to beat most of them. Additionally, I don't see Max surviving a hungry and persistant Holyfield over 12 or 15 rounds either. I think Evander breaks him down and stops him between the 4-7 rounds. Holy is simply too well proven against physically better men, and I'm not convinced that Schmeling would just merely out slick him for as long as the fight was scheduled, as this is much easier said than done.

 

I think you're rating Holyfield's power based on what you saw him do during his tenure as a heavyweight during the 90's. I know you don't give the whole size thing much merit, but I think I'll regurgitate it just for good measure. Holy was taking on men who stood anywhere from 6'3" to 6'5", and weighed anywhere from 215 Lbs to 250. Additonally, they were better trained and nurished according to modern standards, and were not held back in the ratings due to racial preference and profling. The fact that some of these men survived the distance or extended him into the later rounds means little or nothing when comparing the chances of earlier fighters during the 1930's. Sure, you had some durable giants such as Carnera, Baer, etc, but these were not the norm, and nor did Schmeling ever beat such foe anyway. We should also consider that Holyfield was not the crude swinging slugger that Max Baer was. He had far superior boxing ability, and could work on the inside as well as at mid range. His left hooks to the body and head, along with his varied combinations and ability to tie a man up, would be a big problem for Schmeling. Evander would tear him up the inside.

 

Why is it such an impossibilty? I don't have anything against fighters of the 1930's, but can we say with any degree of honesty that Max Schmeling fought, beat or survived an opponent of Holyfield's calibur? The only obvious answer would be Joe Louis who trained in half ass fashion for the first fight, then ended up killing him in a single round in the rematch. Sorry, but Max Baer, Paulino Uzcadan and Young Stribling do not fall into the same category as Evander Holyfield.