How good a fight was Holyfield vs Tyson I

Having read all of the thread, but it's an interesting question cause I'm going by memory. I saw it only once, but it was live when it happened. (the joys of getting older) what I recall was that on a scale from 1-10 it sticks in my mind as about a 7. If I'm off by a lot let me know and I'll rewatch it. What I recall most about the fight was I predicted Holyfield to win, based on the comp Tyson was fighting leading up to that fight. To say I was unimpressed was an understatement. But I do remember some close moments where the fight could have gone either way. Holyfield naturally had to take some terrific shots to prevail, but given that he had already fought Bowe three times I felt he could take a punch.

 

Tyson supposedly used cheque drops prior to the second Holyfield fight, which promotes almost superhuman levels of aggression for short periods of time. Powerlifters use them.

Combine an already aggressive man with them and Holyfield being a headbutting cocksucker = diaster.

 

I think that was the perception of the general public, but I think anyone who was following boxing at the time knew that Holyfield had a good chance of winning. Tyson was fighting mediocre comp at the time and KO'ing them in the 1st round or so, hardly the type of opponent or hard fought fights needed to take on someone like Holyfield.

 

Once Holyfield found the groove, it was pretty much a one-sided beat down. Tyson staggered Holyfield early in the fifth, but he didn't follow up on it. Tyson won that round. For most of the fight, Holyfield dominated.

You could see how much the legendary status of Tyson was affecting perceptions. It took a long time for Albert, Czyz, and Pacheco to recognize what was happening. Only after Hoyfield was clearly out front did they start talking about a masterful performance. The sixth round knockout was spun first by Czyz and then Pacheco as a "balance shot." Bull****.

Tyson was victim of his own hype. He was so used to seeing opponents fall that he came to believe that he had magic power in his fists. But Tyson's power always came from speed and technique - and from always seeking an advantage and keeping his opponents off balance. Once he started looking for single shots to end fights he forgot all about his skill set. Watching Tyson at this stage is like watching a fighter with amnesia. He just doesn't seem to remember what worked. Holyfield came straight at him in a crouch and in between Tyson's punches. He neutralized any advantages Tyson still retained. He took Tyson to school.

 

Amen.

And that Showtime announcing team were nothing more than shills. They couldn't see the Queen Mary parked in a neighbors yard. You could see in the first round that Tyson was in trouble with the guy. And how come everyone else is able to hit Evander in his fights and here's Tyson unable to land anything clean. But the Holyfield toolset and whiskers are formidable and something that needs to be systematically broken down. The problem was the systematic breaking down was being performed by Evander.

Another big error in judgement by the Tyson camp was how strong Holyfield really is. They must've thought Tyson would easily outmuscle the guy and early in the fight it's Evander walking Tyson around.

 

It was pretty good, but marred by too much clinching. Watching it when it occurred was great, but the replay value isn't that great due to the clinching.

It won FOTY for 1996, but it wouldn't make my top 5 of that year.

 

Yeo, I think Tyson lost heart after that 5th. It was a strong round and Holyfield was still there at the end of it. It was then that Evander took over.

 

Agreed, it was very much like Mosley vs Margarito......once Mosley established that he was'nt going to be physically manhandled by Margarito and in fact it was Mosley who was the physically stronger of the two.......then every other boxing attribute outside of strenghth and punching power just rode the tide.

.....Holyfield-Tyson was very much the same.

I will say that Holyfield-Tyson was very much competitive through 5 rounds......at this point neither fighter had established clear dominance.....but once Holyfield dropped Tyson in round 6, Tyson broke down mentally and Holyfield rode a wave of confidence all the way to the stoppage.

Given the magnitude of the event and what was at stake, it was a great to watch.

 

Yeah, that right hand to the body right hand uppercut to the chin is a devestating shot that if it does'n knock you out, its the beginning of the end......
......Holyfield was stunned by it, but his recuperative powers are second to none.....

I think that Holyfield coming back strong from that Tyson combination is what led to Tyson losing confidence in himself.....
.....Tyson must have been thinking, "I just hit this guy with my best shot and he's leaning on me driving me back and fighting back........Tyson just was'nt accustomed having someone immediately fight back after having been hit solid by one of his shots.

 

THAT was some right hand tyson landed. anybody who has boxed knows how hard it is to lead with the right at ANY time in a fight let alone it being your first punch of fight. it shows how gifted tyson was

this was the last fight in which tyson showed some of the speed and ability that made him seem so invincible in the 80's. look at the fights after this. he really did slow down

 

Tyson was never in the condition after prison to fight a quality opponent hard for 12. Period. As a matter of fact he stopped doing serious roadwork right after the Spinks fight Four years in the can and fighting a few rounds against handpicked opposition while in full bore party mode will not pay off against a fighter who has been active and shows up to fight.

Little known is also the Rooney lawsuit concluded almost right before the fight where Mike had to attend in NY. That distraction with all the other lifestyle BS resulted into about three weeks of training. Not the sign of a committed professional athlete who takes his job seriously, far from it.

Seeing him in the Holyfield fight and comparing it to his heyday events in the 80's is almost watching two completly different fighters.

 

great points. but he did show some of his former greatness in this fight

it wasnt as sad as the lewis and latter fights. tyson landed some really nice punches early on

 

I agree, i think that was the last fight of his prime (not peak, mind you). He was still a force to be reckoned with... and i think he looked better than he did against Douglas in '90. He was more active too, that's a fact. Against Botha he looked disorganized. He showed to still have punching power as hard as anyone in history, but his skills and desire had eroded to a high degree. From that point, he was reduced from a highly skilled puncher to a limited slugger who threw bombs with high handspeed, but slowed badly and couldn't solve the puzzle if the solution hadn't come before the 5th.