Liston -vs- Holyfield:

Hard to tell, pretty much a 50/50 fight for me.

As in all fights of Holyfield, a deciding factor will be whether he decides to slug it out or box smartly. If he fights smart, i think he can book a decision.
People don't often mention it but Liston is VERY slow yet smaller than most of Holyfields (HW) opponents.

I give Holyfield, whose legacy may well grow after he's retired, a slight edge.

 

I am a lifelong Holyfield fan.

But Liston would stop him. Not because of the skill differential or even the strength differential. Liston would stop him because Holyfield at his best couldn't suppress his love of battle. He fought to get respect and was less a strategist and more of an "impose the will" guy.

Against Tyson it worked.
Against Dokes it worked.
He broke both of them.

Against Bowe, it didn't work.
Against Lewis it didn't work.
Both were too strong.

....Liston is stronger than both of them. His physical presence in the ring oozed that heavy, leaden strength.

Do you remember how effective Bowe and Lewis (and Moorer! Hell, even Foreman!) were when they operated behind that jab? Their jabs were not especially fast, but they were solid. Why did the jabs work? Because Holyfield was looking to get in and work and was less aware of avoiding the jab. He became a great counter puncher and one of his defining performance was Bowe II but I really credit Steward for that one. Steward was the maestro. What Holyfield always heard in his head was Lou Duva screaming "get that respect! Get that respect!" during the Dokes fight.

Liston would jab him to death and wear him out like Moorer, Bowe, and Lewis never could and would close the show late after a barrage. Holyfield ain't moving Liston backwards, it's the other way around. And Holyfield would only survive if he fought a defensive fight -which was not in his nature.

 

Liton to strong, big and powerfull for Holy
Liston by late tko

 

Mc Grain said it all, I agree with him.

Liston long reach won't allow Holy's jab to land which is the main weapon of the Real Deal.

Liston by late stoppage.

 

Man, you've won me over. Great insights.

 

I have no problem with your pick, but i disagree somewhat with your comparisons. I strongly doubt that Liston at 6'0 208lb is stronger than either Bowe or Lewis, 6'5 240 lb. Liston looks a lot stronger because most of his opposition were cruiserweights. Outside of his reach, he has nothing on Holyfield if we're talking about size.
Wingspan (reach) is merely one factor of the jab. Another, much more important one is handspeed. Lewis had it. Bowe had it. Liston did not have it. He's slow as **** compared to others. Holyfield could easily get past slow jabs even if they were longer than his, as you saw in his fights with Thomas, Dokes, Holmes and Foreman. He easily dominated them.
Holyfield easily moved Tyson back all night. Tyson was only one inch shorter than Liston and wider than Liston. Indeed couldn't handle Bowe and Lewis but they are much, much bigger and faster than Liston. And he did beat Bowe one time when he fought smart.

 

Stonehands debates his choices as well as anyone anywhere. He convinced me on this one, i was hanging in the middle as i often do.

 

liston's jab will massacre holyfield.

 

I pick Liston here. Holyfield would be outjabbed adn outfought. It wouldn't matter if Holyfield kept Liston on the outside. Liston could beat him on the outside, the inside, or mid range. Liston could do it all. If Holyfield got inside, Liston would pound the body to the extent that Holy never experienced before. I'll give Holy maybe two rounds, but overall Liston would dominate in almost every way. Holyfield would be stopped mid to late rounds.

Sonny Liston TKO 11 Evander Holyfield:good

 

tko? na.

KO yes