was Holyfield really IN his prime in 1991?

I believe he was in his prime. Holyfield could have probably saved himself a lot of lumps and bumps if he used his smarts a little more, something eventually he was forced to by his diminishing skills.
His willingness to go to war so easily was his biggest flaw when he was younger, considering he was an excellent technician when he wanted to be.

 

i'm thinking 1989 to 1991 was his ultimate peak..

 

I think there is a difference between prime and peak. Prime for me is when a fighter is generally at the best point of his career, but a peak is when he's reached the absolute summit of his abilities. Another way to look at it is that primes generally last about 3-4 years where a man's peak typically lasts around 3-4 fights. Tyson was prime from 1986 to 1990. 1988 was probably his peak. Ali was prime from 1964-1970, but 1967 was most likely his peak. Holyfield's prime was from 1988-1993, but I think 1990 was his peak....

 

Definitely in his prime.

When was his peak? Of course it's subjective, but i would also consider the stylistic angle. If i could pick any version to fight a Dempsey, Tyson or similar, then i'd like Holyfield that beat Bowe. He put on 12 pounds of muscle, was stronger and harder to move around, and most important, didn't slug it out when he got hurt.

However, against a guy like Holmes, Young, Ali or Johnson, i'd prefer the 205lbs version who was faster and averaged around 60 punches a round. His brawl-happiness might actually help him there.

 

:good I agree with all of this. Holyfield is a fairly unique fighter head to head because there isn't many specific styles that give him major fits. Frazier is always a bit of a ? when matched up against top end punchers, Foreman suffers against quality boxers, Liston is in a bit of trouble against slicksters, Holyfield matches up well with everyone across the board. Although you may have to pick different versions of Holyfield for different fighters like you say.

Super Heavies are the only type of fighter that really cause him problems due to his style. But even then, I'd only pick Bowe and Lewis to beat him in terms of SHW's, Holy is the Real Deal and I wonder how he would of done had he not fought in the era of the giants.

 

There's different types of prime, he was faster, better stamina but more foolhardy, not as strong and not as smart as he would become later in his career

 

I think anything from 1987 - '92/'93 can be said to be Holyfield's prime. That's six or seven years ! That's great longevity, esp. considering he beat Tyson and Moorer and gave Lewis a close fight in the years after his prime.

Lennox's longevity was even more impressive. I think anything from 1991 - 2001 can be seen as Lewis's prime.

 

I think Holyfield's fight with Foreman was as smart as any he ever fought. I reject the notion that he was a lot smarter when he slowed up and after he lost to Bowe. I dont discount that experience makes fighters clever. But he was always smart.

 

Physical prime I'd say, but his very best performance (certainly at HW) came 5 years later.

 

I'd consider 1990-1993 to be his Heavyweight prime. IMO,though,he was at his career best as a cruiserweight,circa 1986/87.

 

I think that the Holyfield that beat George Foreman or perhaps Holmes is the best Holyfield there ever was or ever will be. History shows us that all fighters peak just after they win their world title and after this point, they lose their focus and hunger and are never as good, although they may have long careers. When Holyfield won the title, he was training to prove to himself that he was the best in the world. When he beat Douglas, he knew he needed to improve if he was going to beat Tyson, who was the peoples champion. Holy Tyson was always going to happen and was always going to be a legacy maker. That is what he was focused on.

By the time Bowe came along, Holy underestimated him, and had slipped in training as (from memory) Tyson had slipped from the radar. Although Holy eventually refocused after the Bowe loss and the Moorer loss, and eventually the Tyson win, he was not physically the same. As everyone knows, once you lose the edge and break from training, you just cant recover the same magic, no matter how much you try or even how close you seem to come.

 

I think Lennox Lewis would disagree with your first paragraph.