Could the Weaver of the Tate and Coetzee fights handle the Holyfield of the Douglass and Bowe fights?
Evander wins this, most likely by a mid to late rounds TKO if not an outright KO. He can easily win this fight by boxing Weaver, but knowing Evander as soon as Mike hurts him and has him in some trouble which he inevitably will, he is gonna look to rumble with Mike much to his detriment and will make the fight much more difficult on himself than he should have. I think this fight will resemble the Holyfield/Cooper fight in the sense that Holy could easily box his way to a win and will be doing so in the early going, until he gets tagged and possibly dropped by a big punch from Mike at some point after which he is gonna go to war with him. He will eventually get him out of there, but he will have to eat a lot of leather and take a lot of unecessary punishment by fighting Mike`s fight, instead of his own.
Just rewatched some weaver on youtube based on this post. Agree that Holyfield is just a bad matchup for Mike Weaver. Holyfield just does everything better, only shot for Weaver is a lucky punch.
This fight is all Holyfield's. He has easily the better boxing skill and can take whatever Weaver can dish out. It's oft forgotten now as well that Weaver could be stunned and stopped, possibly a bit easier than some might think. Glass jaw no but certainly dentable.
That's a good call. Evander nearly always got tagged by something big, no matter who he fought. Weaver definitely has the pop to stun Holyfield and perhaps score a knockdown. Weaver was a cagey sort who would often let the other guy do all the work. I don't think this is an easy fight for Evander, far from it. Yes ultimately I think he has too much class, but Weaver will certainly have his moments.
Evander could win this late, but believe me, Mike would have his moments, and it would not surprise me if Mike puts Evander down.
I'm not going to give an exact prediction on who wins it but Holyfield-Weaver would most definitely create almost more fire works than Holyfield-Dokes did back in March,1989 and we all remember how that fight went. Just finished a close second place to that years "fight of the year" right after the fight between Duran-Barkley, which took place the month before. Holyfield-Weaver most certainly would not fall short of high drama/clamatic intrigue.
Weaver too mechanical against Holy...... Holy pastes' Weaver from all angles and scores a late rd. TKO........... Holy has too much to offer....... MR.BILL
I think Holy was more reliable and therefore the favourite in this fight, but Weaver certainly has a puncher's chance, and if the Weaver from th June '79 Holmes fight turned, he would be a very live dog...
Here is a 'what if?' The Weaver coming off the Williams win (the Smith fight Weaver) against the 10-0 Holyfield in May 1986...
I absolutely agree that in all likelihood Holyfield would win this fight - I certainly would not back Weaver to win; but...Holy was not indestructible; Bowe stopped Holy, and I would say that Weaver banged at least equally as hard (likely harder) as Cooper who definitely badly hurt Evander; what I am saying is that Weaver has a chance. The thing with Weaver, he always seemed to be capable of the most unpredictable results, shocking losses; surprise wins. Regarding Weaver being a small heavy - he was a career heavy, unike Evander who as we all know started at cruiser.
Hi Colonel, I fundamentally do agree with what you and boxed ears are saying, and do feel that boxed ears' posted nailed it - a very good description of the concept of "the puncher's chance"; I also absolutely agree with the comments about Bowe-Holy 3 and Weaver being no Bowe. I just think of the Bert Cooper fight and on that basis give Weaver a chance, albeit a very small one. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree in that I think Weaver had more of the proverbial "puncher's chance" that you and BE do...after all, this is the heavyweight division we are talking about! Cheers:good
