Great little video here, Gary Mason picked Tyson to walk through Holyfield like he did Spinks. Pinklon Thomas was a big fan of Holyfield back then and was going for the champ. Angelo Dundee thought Holyfield had trouble with shorter guys and was in for a tough fight. One thing is clear though IMO, Tyson seemed to sense Holyfield was a special fighter. I think he new deep down Holyfield was going to give him all he could handle. This content is protected
Too bad it didn't happen. Bert Cooper put on a great effort as the substitute. He came close to stopping Evander
I was already a big fan of Smokin' Bert before that fight. But, his fight against Holyfield was one of my favorite boxing memories. I had made a bunch of Bert Cooper shirts and hats, and passed them out at the Ohio State-Michigan game earlier that day. People kept asking me "Who the hell is Bert Cooper?" I told them to watch the fight that night, and they would never forget him. About 200 guys packed into the Sigma Chi fraternity in Ann Arbor to watch it. The place went crazy. Nobody could believe that Bert was so competitive. Especially on a week's notice. When Bert dropped Holyfield my heart almost burst out of my chest I was so excited. Poor Bert was so ****ing close. But, no way was he in good enough shape to last the distance when he didn't get the stoppage. (Thanks in part to some dubious refereeing by Mills Lane) The fight still holds up for re-watching.
The man could bang no doubt about that and was rarely in a stinker. A better inside fighter than Tyson, if he had a better chin he could have been at the top.
Bert was an easy fighter to root for. He was an easy guy to like. When he was clean and ready to scrap he was must see TV. He threw that little sneak right hand on the inside as well as I ever seen anyone throw it.
I don't think he had a good chin tbh and yes his cross arm defense was not good for defending uppercut.
Cooper proved his worth but remember there were some circumstances around the Holyfield/Cooper fight. Evander was preparing for Francesco Damiani and had to change gears a week before the bout. A totally different style. It being in Atlanta probaby added to it because it looked like Holyfield was dead set on getting an early KO of Cooper.
Holyfield did not fight Tyson so obviously he used a different gameplan. Holyfield proved in reality he had the perfect gameplan for Tyson.
The possible fly in the ointment is that the guy that devised Holyfield's brilliant strategy was years away from being in his corner.
That may be true but Holyfield knew what he was doing in there regarding Tyson, I feel he always had his number.