Had Holyfield vs Tyson Happened in 1991?

Tyson had a few tough fights and was in good shape under Giachetti. He was ready for Holyfield. Holyfield of 91 was smaller, traded more and it would have been a tough night fo Evander. Look what a motivated Bowe was able to get Holy to do. Tyson would have drug him into a slugfest and it would have been over by mid rounds. Tyson would have knocked him out.
Even when they fought Evander really didnt do too much damage to Tyson until Tyson basically fell apart and ran out of gas.
In the second fight, Tyson really started to tag Evander cleanly as well, and looked like he was outspeeding Evander.
You also have to factor in that Holyfield wouldnt have fought the same type of style, and the headbutts would not have been a factor which they clearly were in the two fights.

 

What shite is thisatsch

Are you some sort of Lunatic:scaredas: This is pure nitpicking at it's finest, you should get out more, it's quite pathetic, what the **** is all the above ink got 2 do with what our opinions of the outcome ov this fight are.

i'am using the term not human/Not of this world 2 describe Tyson in a global boxing generalisation view i.e joe paying public & most of the boxing medie in general, even till this day that would be the popular consensus, jeezus you've only got 2 look at the furore that the 96 fight caused when it was announced & with Don King promising 2 pay back all the PPv subscibers 1/2 their $$$ if it did'nt go 3 rounds.

Jeezus, you sad sad man/boy

 

That was my arguement way back in 90/91 exactly, i'am right with you on that score but at the time i was viewed as a herotic, i'am not so sure about Evander being a greenhorn at heavyweight though? he did fight his way up for his shot at the title, but obviously my opinion in hindsite after the cooper fight just makes me think he may have got TKO/KO'd,

 

Are you upset?

Don't make stupid statements next time. And that wasn't the general perception of the boxing media either, as I've clearly shown.

 

I concede & celebrate the fact that you are the undisputed world champion of self insemination:goodLong may you reign:smoke

 

I'll take it as a compliment.

 

Holyfield didn't do much damage to Tyson???

He outboxed,outstrengthed,floored,badly staggered and subsequently stopped Tyson in an as emphatic an upset victory as you're ever likely to see.

As for the rematch,Evander established control even earlier aside from the third when Tyson landed a couple of shots (which Holyfield withstood with ease) and then he bit him.

The headbutts were only a factor because Tyson needed a convenient excuse for being dominated by a tougher,stronger guy.Roughhousing never bothered Tyson as long as he was the one administering it.

If the fight happened in 91,I see a supremely motivated Holyfield prevailing in a slugfest in the late rounds after withstanding an early shellacking.

 

I dont think he started doing the damage until the later rounds. The early rounds just consisted of a lot of grapling and holding, and Holyfield knew Tyson wasnt in condition to fight a long fight. Tyson basically was sucking air by mid fight. Until then Holyfield wasnt hurting Tyson too badly, and I wouldnt call the knockdown "flooring" Tyson.

 

Heh, well put.

My only concern with '91 Holyfield is that he might choose to go toe-to-toe whereas the '96 version knew when it was right to clinch up and neutralise instead. On the other hand, he may be able to get Tyson to go into his shell that way instead, but it would be a bit more of a risk. He'd have to be smart and not do like he did against Cooper.

Still probably have my money on Holyfield though. Tyson was his focus throughout his career, the whole reason he moved up to heavyweight in the first place.

 

I pick Holyfield in this fight.

There is to much focus of what Evander was in 96' (stronger, heavier) and much to less focus on what Holy was in 91'. Holyfield was fast, dynamic, aggresive, pressuring, fresh, well conditioned and durable. With all that skills I see him dancing over Tyson early and ripping him apart in the later rounds. Even if Tyson stunned Holyfield by some occasion, I see Real Deal taking the punishment and railing back. Evander took punches from Foreman and Cooper so I think that its very possible that he could survive Tyson's.

 

He rocked Tyson as early as the 2nd round.

Why not?

 

Not in the first fight. In the second fight, he nailed Tyson pretty good in the second round. Tyson came back strong to shake Holy as well.

The knockdown in the first fight was a balance shot more than anything in the first round.

 

i think some people are putting to much emphasis on the cooper fight...bert was a poor mans, hell, destitute mans, tyson..but when he fought holyfield, am i not right in thinkin that evander had been training to fight another, wholly different fighter...(was it damiani??)..also, the fight was in holy's hometown and its more than possible that the pressure of an 'easy' homecoming fight against a substitute oponent who he was meant to beat, handiy, might just have been too much for the over emotional holyfield who , as i recall, seemed uncharacteristically 'charged' that night..

no way, no how does tyson ko ANY version of holyfield. i really think any version of holyfield has the kryptonite to smother and quench tysons early fire and ultimately dismantle him in an exciting, some times bck and forth, tussle....holy would fight tyson in a much more circumspect fashion than he fought the sacrificial lamb cooper, who, god love him, was little more than a trial horse back then....his unheralded perfromance against the real deal got him in some great fights nd gave him his deserved 15minutes of fame...

 

Let me also add that Tyson didnt have a corner to go back to in Jay Bright. No fighter in the history of the sport has ever been able to fight through a tough fight on their own. There's a reason the best talents hire the best most expensive trainers. When you have someone giving you instructions that doesnt know boxing, what good is it? Tyson simply felt he would be able to walk through Holyfield in the first fight. Theres a reason Tyson hired Giachetti again. This was the same mistake he made after the Spinks fight. Watch the first fight listen to the commentary in the corner its pretty sad.
Watch the second fight, even though brief, there was a solid boxing personality in the corner. The instructions were calm and professional and it was paying off until the ear bite.
Im not making excuses for Tyson, but its clear the importance of the right trainer. Tyson was never as good as he was under Rooney after they parted ways, but he was certainly better in 91 with Giachetti than he was with Bright.
As far as Holyfield, Im not so sure in 91 Holyfield would even have fought this type of fight. If it wasnt for Tommy Brooks who later became Tysons cornerman, I dont think Holyfield would have ever fought the style he did in that fight, and under Duva and Benton would have been his usual boxer puncher, brawler.

 

I agree to some extent. Many fighters have made big mistakes in homecoming fights, just ask Tommy Morrison.:yep
It wasnt just Cooper though Holyfield never boxed brawlers or fighter who engaged him. From Dokes to Cooper, Foreman and Bowe, Holy would brawl. Your talking about a fighter in Tyson who hit so much harder and faster than the rest of the fighters, and I dont think Holyfield would even realize what he was up against until it was too late. Again, Im really suprised most people dont see the difference between Tyson in 91 as compared to the post prison version who was not a fit fighter able to go 12 hard rounds. The Ruddock fights were tough grueling phyiscial fights. Tyson of 96 would have never been able to fight a fight like that.