tyson holyfield 1

No, Holyfield didn't fight like a coward. He fought the same way he always fights. I didn't see much problem. A prime Tyson used exactly the same aggressive/defensive use of the head. The styles match-up between these two was a recipe for head clashes. These things happen.

Marciano was another guy who butted like that too, btw.

 

It was a very dramatic fight .. people forget going in that Tyson had looked terrific in his comeback. He had destroyed everyone he faced. He looked fantastic in destroying Bruno to recapture the title ... Holyfield was in a very bad downward swing of his career. He had been stopped by Bowe. He had heart issue concerns. He looked terrible against Czyz ... the headline of the NY Post the morning of the fight read "Slaughter" ... Holyfield was given almost no chance.

The fight proved once and for all what a great fighter Holyfield was and that Tyson had no second gear at that point in his career.. Evander had the rare combination of elements needed to survive the opening blitz and take Tyson to deeper water where the 1996 Tyson could no longer perform .. That Tyson lacked the conditioning , the focus, the combination punching and the will that the 1988 version had in spades ...

It was an amazing , dramatic fight and a huge upset !!

 

:good Yep it was the most dramatic & amazing fight i've ever attended

Evander opened up at 28/1 & my gambling mad wife behind my back got 18/1 after i told her to stop being a thick pratt & throwing MY $$$$$ away by betting on Holyfield.

Even Don King promised to refund 50% of all PPv $$$$ if it did'nt go 3 rounds like the Seldon high board dive fiasco, only 1 scribe from the Boston Globe i think said Evander would win....Tyson gave it his best even till the end but Evander really showed what a will too win against all odds is all about:smoke

 

To be fair, I think yes Holyfield carried on from the first fight what he knew worked. He was butting Tyson badly from the 5th on in the first fight. Part of that was what broke Tyson's will. He started doing it right off in the second fight, and Tyson actually gave him a warning bite on his ear before the first major bite. He actually bit him three times. You can see the look on Holy's face after he cut him in the second, that he knew Tyson was going to come unraveled. Holyfield knew all well what he was doing in there but again Tyson should have retaliated back the same way or with elbows which he was really good at.

I think deep down Holyfield didnt want to win like that. He wanted to knock him out or beat him fair and square, and thats why he was the one who always wanted a third fight with Tyson.

 

That is a total fallasy - Tyson and Marciano never went out there to intentionally butt anyone ever - I've never seen a fight where either of them ever butted flagrantly and intentionally - fighters clash heads all the time especially the shorter guys but what Holyfield was doing was blatant and pre-meditated - he knew exactly what her was doing and why - anyone who knows anything knows Holyfield was really going for it with the head - the referee should've been deducting points left right and centre - especially when Holy butted Tyson's eye open - Holy is not this honourable guy everyone makes him out to be - he got a track record for being a bit wierd all round really - maybe him and that ref went to the same church or something

 

That 5th round head clash was ALL MIKE'S fault:deal

He went in Head 1st & Evander dipped & Mike came out the worse for it:smoke

 

Not true. Tyson often intentionally butt his opponents, but he didnt do it like Holyfield did it. He came up and under and got them on their chin. He also threw elbows a lot.

 

There was quite a few butts in that fight. It wasnt only the cut Im talking about.

 

Seriously, I usually have nothing but positive things to say about Marciano. But the truth is that he was a very dirty fighter, he head butted, he hit after the bell, he clubbed the backs of heads, he roughed fighters up in the clinch..etc. Ali and Lewis were dirty too.

 

Evander's game plan to step into Mike & plant his head onto his chest was always going to lead to head clashes as we know mike had stopped using any real upper body movement like he did in the 80's to avoid Holy's head first foreward momentum in pushing Tyson onto the back foot.

It was a difficult fight for Mitch Halpen to keep control of as Holyfield somewhat disguised his headbutts as he went into the clinch to nuetralize mike's momentum. I think Evander deliberatly adopted this stratergy to get Tyson unsettled & it worked, Evander got of 1st then stepped in head down & clinched catching Tyson time & time again with his head, deliberate? in hind-site i'd say YES but it would'nt have been easy for the ref to deduct any points as it appeared just a clash of style's & one which Tyson on his part was unable to change.

 

Most former greats fouled a lot.

 

You're simply wrong.
I dont know if you're just naive about professional boxing, or just biased.
Go watch the fights again.

I dont have a clue what you're on about.
Holyfield's just a fighter. A great fighter. He's a mean mother****er.

 

I think what he meant is Holyfield seemed to get a pass for a lot of his deeds due to being religious, whereas Tyson was called out for just about everything he did.

Holyfield was a mean mofo, and he cheated on his wives, had children out of wedlock and butted the **** out of his opponents to get ahead in fights.

 

The worst butts in the fight were Mike's fault. Goes to show he was responsible for some clashing too. Should he have been deducted points as well? He essentially cut himself on the one in the 5th.

Holyfield outfought Tyson. The ref lost control a bit, but never in professional boxing is that just a free pass to fold. Your a fighter, a heavyweight champion, fight back. In the first fight, to his credit, Tyson did, just to an ass beating. In the second fight, he more or less refused too and flipped out.

 

I'm not sure Holyfield gets a pass at all. The fact that people go on about his headbutting and his "dirty fighting" ad naseum while rarely mentioning it in the other great fighters seems like unfair singling out if anything.
I mean, mention Holyfield in any context here and someone will mention either headbutts or steroids or "having children out of wedlock" huh) in almost any thread.

Holyfield's family affairs are his own business.
Nobody actually would have called Tyson out or persecuted him at all if he'd only been a philanderer.

Let's be clear, Tyson was being hit with suits for assault and molestation, gropings etc., since 1987. He was always out somewhere grabbing some girl's ass against her will, or accused thereof. His marriage to Robin Givens resulted in car crash suicide attempts, at the height of his fame, it's bound to garner some attention. He was out brawling with lowlife like Mitch Green at 2 a.m. in the morning. He would say bizarre things to the press. He was accused and convicted of ****.
This is not run-of-the-mill stuff.

I dont think the press or people at large were choosing to pick on Tyson and ignore Holyfield because Holyfield goes to church.

Holyfield's just a boxer who made a load of money and sleeps around. In interviews he talks about his boxing career.
He goes to church, he ****s women on the side. I daresay most of Atlanta, Georgia does the same.