Call it whatever you want. I ask again, what old time fighter had Bowe's combination of size and talent? None.
Holyfield would beat them because on top of his own skill set of speed and power he takes a punch as good as any fighter that ever lived. He was as tough as they come. This we know from his fights w Bowe, Tyson and Lewis.
Bowe's modern nutrition consisted of cheeseburgers and cake. However he was indeed a very talented big man who I always felt was a better infighter than anything else, thus he presented a different match-up for Holyfield than either of the Klitschko brothers. Holyfield troubled Lewis quite a bit in their rematch and that was an old Holyfield. When he stuck to his gameplan he could be a great boxer, faster than even the fastest of superheavyweights. Foreman said Holyfield was really a "built up middleweight", one he could toss around with strength, but who was also much quicker than he was, especially the 40 year old George. He said Holyfield tended to run out of stamina, not because he was out of condition, but because he was carrying much more weight on his frame than he naturally may have. Of course Foreman has said a lot of things but I can agree with that.
One thing Foreman liked to say was GOOD BODYSHOT!! Bowe looked like a different person between Holy 1 and 2. He was bound to fill out, but he really did fill out rather widely.
Wlad didn't impress me against Mercer. I never saw the fight at the time, but heard how great he looked from ESB and sought it out and was terribly disappointed. :-(
Mercer was just done really. I think that was Emanuel Stewards way of trying to recreate the path he took Lewis on, only problem is Mercer was just a tin shell of his former self.
Mercer was truly shot. A tough fight with Mercer much like the Lewis-Mercer fight would have helped Wladimir and probably would've prevented the Sanders fiasco from happening but then again it may have been too tough for Wladimir... Wladimir was impressive pre-Sanders but he does resemble Carnera a bit these days.
I don't see what's not impressive about it. His punches are extremely hard, fast, and technically advances. Hooks off the jab, feints, does it all. Indeed, Mercer had seen better days, but the way in which he won was nothing but impressive. Incidentally, in the post fight interview, Mercer stated that Lewis hit him harder (when asked if he ever faced a bigger hitter), but that might be a case of the this-guy-who-didn't-floor-me-hits-harder-than-the-one-who-knocked-my-block-off. The Holmes syndrome.