Holyfield on Joe Louis

Then there's allot more to improve on. Every measurable sport has improved over the decades

Holyfield has some valid points:

1. Yes boxing has progressed and yes Louis has slow plodding footwork, he has a slow jab too
2. Yes it was harder to study fight tapes, TVs were not only a rare commodity but prehistoric

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Fellow boxers may have seen Louis live at the cinema, studying him would be very difficult though

3. Louis has a ton of defenses but the competition is nowhere near as strong, can we see anyone beating Holyfield? Its pretty doubtful, Walcott has the best shot

 

Schmeling, Conn, Walcott, Charles have a very good shot at Holyfield. Even Baer has a decent chance if Holyfield get´s seduced to a brawl.

 

A 167lb Conn is getting walked down and stopped, do you give Calzaghe/Jones shots at Holyfield too? Conn had success against Louis because of Joes footwork, Holy is a different kettle of fish

I didn't count Charles as it wasn't a successful defense but I think neither him nor Schmelling would be strong enough to keep Holyfield off them. Baer doesn't have the skill

 

I do think a prime Jones can beat Holyfield. Yes.

 

A prime Holy? I have a hard time seeing that.

 

I think you often have a refreshing perspective, but one shouldn't forget that past prime Louis beat Walcott, at least once. I'd probably only have prime Ali as a clearly more elusive HW than Walcott.

 

Prime Holyfield fought mostly bigger, slower fighters. Not small, fast, elusive fighters. I think Jones would pose some real problems for him.

 

He must have met some pretty fast guys as a CW. And that there were few small, elusive HWs around in the 90's is hardly proof that Holy was vulnerable to them. His record against fighters under 200 lbs is after all quite stellar.

Prime Holy had an effective double jab and good footwork. He also wouldn't be troubled much by 167 lbs Jones' punches. And when he lands punches that took out Douglas, Tyson etc it's all over. He walks Jones down.

 

Exactly at cw. When he fought at hw he was bigger, more muscle bound and slower. He had good footwork but Jones was better and he had much faster feet. He won´t trouble Holy with his punches but with a good strategy he may see the 12th round and perhaps eek out a decision.

 

If Jesse Owens was alive today he may rise to the occasion. Holyfield is the victim of positive thought but Joe Louis would damage him. Athletics may show improvement but the intangibles of boxing contain what is inside a man, skill level, power and experience all in which Joe Louis can not be topped....Louis KO in 6 Evander Holyfield

 

I'd be surprised but you never know.

 

He has got a point. I mean evolution does happen very, very fast. Think about it, if you took a modern fighter and transported him backward in time to when boxers only had two arms, one fist per arm and hadn't yet developed triceratops-style head armour then it really wouldn't even be fair.

 

Who knows? At both their peaks against each opponent, maybe not. But who knows how Holy would handle the glove size and having to fight with such regularity? He may slip up if he's not sharp enough on the night.

I don't agree that boxing has progressed. How can it? Would you pick this era to come out on top if you matched them up H2H against say, guys from the mid-40's-early 50's like Louis, like Robinson, Armstrong, Charles, Pep, Moore, LaMotta, Saddler, Johnson, Conn, Williams, Gavilan etc? The guys around nowadays would get slaughtered by that group.

 

Holyfield would be the fav, no doubt, but I wouldn´t be that surprised.

 

I know it's difficult to remember, but there was a prime Holyfield once upon a time, and he really could mix it up and was really very skilled.

To the initial point regarding Louis, it does make me uneasy. However, I can not deny that Holyfield would make mincemeat of most of Louis' title opposition. Then there is the issue of supplements and how much they enhanced Holy's abilities...