Vitali Klitschko vs Evander Holyfield

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by El Hans, Jun 4, 2019.



  1. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member Full Member

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    Vitali dropped only a handful of rounds in his entire career as opposed to Holyfield dropping tons.
     
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  2. thanosone

    thanosone Love Your Brother Man Full Member

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    Vitali should win this one easy with the jab and the straight right. How is Holy gonna head butt him?
     
  3. Mendoza

    Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

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    Watch the fight, and tel me if the ref didn't give him a bit more than 10 seconds.
     
  4. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    I feel your pain. I don't know where to put myself on this one.

    Here's why I pick Vitali: I think that the "default" for the fight would be in favour of Vitali. What I mean by that is he probably will have some additional range to work with and is difficult to predict punch-by-punch. You know what he's going to throw, but he doesn't throw them in the normal way. Those are small-gains advantages that I think would set him up in the box seat.

    Measured against that is Holyfield's energy and determination. There's no question he would win passages and rounds. But I think that the quieter moments will mostly be won by Vitali and I think that will just see him edge in front on 51% of cards.

    So I see a very close decision, and probably an "either way" type fight, but if they fought a hundred times i'd favour Vitali to come out on top.

    On the night almost any close cards could fairly be produced though, I think.
     
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  5. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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  6. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member Full Member

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    Nope. I've said my piece. I'm out of this thread.
     
  7. dinovelvet

    dinovelvet Antifanboi Full Member

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    I'll issue @Mendoza a public apology if he pulls the post where I said Holyfield went 3-0 with Bowe.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2019
  8. Bonecrusher

    Bonecrusher Lineal Champion Full Member

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    I don’t agree, And I’ve watched that round easily over a 100 times ( no joke :smoking:) Holyfield and Cooper are both two of my all time favorites and it’s one of my favorite fights in my almost 40 years of watching the sport live. I remember that particular night vividly.

    He gets rocked by that right, wobbles forward into Cooper, clubbed to the back of the head and the jaw, is spun around in to the ropes, goes down a Lane gives him the count. He gets battered a bit but less than 20 seconds later comes roaring back. GREAT ROUND.

    My closing thoughts on this matchup are peak Holyfield is a very tough out, so often in these threads people pull up and use fights for reference that aren’t his peak form. He had such a long career and he was different fighter at different stages of his career with varying success. I just think in his peak form he does everything exceptionally well, fast, great combos, chin, stamina, heart, good work rate, he would be very competitive with any heavyweight in history and in my view he beats most of them.

    Vitali always looked like a monster to me but he lacked the great opponents to push him towards the top (for me) and the fact that he couldn’t fight Wlad hurts too. I always thought he’d of beaten Wlad. He’s a tough out for anyone. Great Chin, knows how to fight big, strong puncher, toughness and Grit. I was always of the opinion he kinda retired Lewis. But fair play to Lennox he was past his best days while Vitali was entering his peak.
     
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  9. GOAT Primo Carnera

    GOAT Primo Carnera Member of the PC Fan Club Full Member

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    The Holyfield who fought Ruiz and Byrd? Come one, thats way to noble to put in such a young inexperiences fighter against the great iron mandible. Your way to generous :clap: We should at least take the Real Deal who beat Botha and Valuev as the gold standard.

    But I wouldn´t take the Vitali who got staggered by that 38 years old south african sniper rifle. Take the one who destroyed Charr....

    :copas::crazylick::copas::crazylick:
     
  10. THE BLADE 2

    THE BLADE 2 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    However, Holyfield fough the better opponents. Vitali did lose rounds against better competition: Byrd and Lewis.
     
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  11. Bonecrusher

    Bonecrusher Lineal Champion Full Member

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    Why would you use two fights where Holyfield was clearly SHOT!!! Do you honestly think he couldn’t beat Donald and Toney is his Prime..

    He beat MANY fighters who were light years better than Donald.

    The Holyfield who beat Foreman or even the older version who beat Tyson I’ll take both to beat Vitali. Any Vitali you want.
     
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  12. Mendoza

    Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

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    He developed his style a bit later. I'll take tall tall, powerful and hard to out box, with an iron chin over small on PED's. As I said you don't have to be great to beat Holyfield. Lots of guys at heavyweight proved that
     
  13. Mendoza

    Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

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    For the board, I said I was acting like you for once, hence that part ( 3-0 ) was bogus. After all these years I wanted to show you how you sound at times. I thought I clearly explained that in the reply, but to clear it up, no you didn't say Holyfield went 3-0 vs Bowe. Let's examine the genesis of the reply.

    You said "
    This content is protected
    This not accurate at all.
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    at best, unless you think Holyfield won all three fights vs Bowe, hence my sarcastic reply. My issue was this. The way you write it, Holyfield never lost to any of those guys (
    This content is protected
    ), but the truth is he did lose three times officially. Your quote, which I think you were serious on is very misleading, and I'm being kind.

    I think Holyfield did enough vs a very inactive Valuev to earn the decision. I also think Holy vs. Bowe 2 can be scored a clean draw.

    Now I have said my piece and only came back as you said you could issue an apology.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2019
  14. THE BLADE 2

    THE BLADE 2 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Yes he fights very well tall but I have a feeling Holyfield would target that big body. Vitali would not like it
     
  15. Mendoza

    Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

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    What, he lost two rounds to Leiws and just three to Byrd. Vitali ahead in both fights. That is my point. He also took both fights on short notice.

    Now do you really want to to go over the rounds Holyfield lost? Heck he's 1-1-1 vs Ruiz, 1-1 vs Moorer, was in real trouble vs Bert Cooper, was TKO'd by James Toney, lost to Larry Donald, did not look good vs Vaugh Bean, and was far behind vs Byrd in a fight he lost. The truth Blade is Holyfield lost more rounds in the above fights that Vitali did in his professional career. Hands down, no issues there.

    Common Opponents comparison.

    Vitali TKO's Bean and Donald. Holyfield lost to Donald and takes Bean the distance.

    Vitali up 4-2 of Lewis on all three cards and lost on cuts. Holyfield behind on both scorecards, at least the fair one. The Draw vs Lewis was bad. So Holyfield losing to Valuev sort of evens out.

    Vitlai way up on Byrd. Holyfield way behind. Both losses but there is a huge difference on the score cards, as as we know Vitlai fought with a torn up shoulder which required surgery.

    Noticing a trend?

    Vitali didn't get a chance to fight Tyson, Danny Williams ruined that one. He did not get a chance to fight Valuev either, the fight was offered, Valuev declined.