When was Holyfield in his prime?

Holyfield is a strange one...

When trying to find a great fighter in their prime, Lennox Lewis beat, Holyfield was the closest thing i came too.

It's debatable, but he got stronger as he aged, when parts of his physical prime started to fade (reflexes, agility) he gained in other areas (strengh, stamina). If i had to put a finger on when his prime was, i would say early to mid 90s

 

Prime was at cruiser. His best performances at heavy were the 2nd Bowe fight, and the 1st Tyson fight.

 

somewhere between illegitimate child number eight and mills lane picking up his ear...

 

He was never beaten convincingly, twice. Those fights were a crime against boxing. Both guys stunk to high heaven. It's hillarious how people remember fights foundly based upon the verdict, i.e., if their fighter won. Those fights were god awful. atsch

 

That would be helpful, if only holyfield had been in his prime when they fought. At that point, Evander had already been beaten by Michael Moorer and he was KTFO by Riddick Bowe in the 3rd and final fight. In no way, shape or form was that a prime Evander Holyfield that met Lewis. Like Smoking Joe when he met George Foreman, Holfield had already been through the ringer when they met and he was clearly on the downside of his career. :hi:

 

Prime is often nonsense - certainly on these forums. Athletically, Holy was at his best for the second Bowe fight. Marriage of experience, skills with a certain amount of athleticism left, it's Tyson.

just easier to know when a fighter is genuinely shot and genuinely green.

Tszyu's a great example. The younger Tszyu of his 20s would've beaten Hatton, due to his work rate and physical attributes; the Tszyu that Hatton beat was overall a better fighter.

 

Come on...Tyson was a manchild. There were pictures of him when he was 13 and he was 200 lbs all muscle. Sure, he may have used them when he was older, but not like Holy. Evander is clearly a cruiserweight/light heavy that much like a current title holder from the UK relied on weight lifting and roids to bulk up. I'm sorry, but nobody gains twenty pounds of pure muscle in their thirties in less than a year, which is exactly what Evander did when he met Bowe the second time.

 

I agree Holyfield was at his peak 1991-1992, but I do not think that version would have beaten a peak Tyson. Back in 91, Holyfield was more susceptible to a tear up, was not as heavy & was not as smart as the version who beat Tyson in 1996!

A peak Tyson would have beaten a peak Holyfield! But I see your point!

 

Again, this shows that a notion of 'peak' is largely bollox. On the whole, there are different benefits as a fighter progresses.

Hell, Hatton was at his best about a year or two before Tyszu, but no one's going to seriously argue that as his peak.

 

good post, though i disagree about tszyu.

i have to say i agree with the earlier post stating holyfield was at his best against qawi. at heavyweight though i have to say he likely reached his best from the douglas-1st bowe fight (peaking either with cooper or douglas). the 2nd bowe fight he didn't much better but that was a perfect plan and a slower holyfield. his stamina and speed went down significantly over time and though he put on a great performance against moorer in the 2nd fight, that was as much moorer as anything

 

When he started roiding.

 

Yup.

Everything just peaked there.

That version may have lost to Lewis but he was better than the version who beat Tyson, by a long shot.

 

Before his 54th kid.

 

That would be fine if Hatton was at his best, but he wasn't.

His girlfriend was mean to him before the fight.

 

Not once did i say that!

"Originally Posted by Kal

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Holyfield is a strange one...

When trying to find a great fighter in their prime, Lennox Lewis beat, Holyfield was the closest thing i came too.

It's debatable, but he got stronger as he aged, when parts of his physical prime started to fade (reflexes, agility) he gained in other areas (strengh, stamina). If i had to put a finger on when his prime was, i would say early to mid 90s"