1963 Henry Cooper vs 1988 Evander Holyfield

Holyfield by tko.

 

Holy field with out a doubt , before the fifth tko .

 

Boxing is all about career timing. Evander Holyfield is a hall of famer but even a hall of famer can get his butt kicked early in his career by a seasoned, non championship level fighter. Ali nearly did.

I mean, compared to a lot of belt holders in split title eras Henry was up there at one point. During Floyd Patterson’s reign Cooper was #1 contender for a bit out of beating Zora Foley. Being a #1 guy when there was just one champion is as good as being a WBA champion during the 1980s. I mean, all Tony Tubbs ever did was beat Greg Page to call himself champion. Was Tubbs ever above Zora Foley level? David Bey equals his best win.

It’s not like beating Carlos Deleon quite proved Evander was at the top of his game at that point. A seasoned guy with more experience can often be the banana skin the 17 fight prospect is not quite ready for.

Henry Cooper that beat Foley would beat Deleon too. Has to be 50-50 with Cruiserweight Holyfield.

 

Holyfield also beat Tillis and Thomas in 88.I think he beats Cooper handily.

 

Tillis and Thomas both had one foot out of the ring by then. They had no ranking. I believe Cooper could beat anyone Frank Bruno beat. And Frank Bruno certainly beats the versions of Thomas and Tillis Evander did. In fact Bruno had already beat Tillis .

The fight that eventually showed Evander could be championship level was the Dokes fight. Dokes was live in that fight.

 

No ,he showed he was championship level when he beat Qawi.

 

I used to think that, but that was before I realised cruiserweight wasn’t yet a genuine, properly developed division as it is now. The talent was very very shallow. Back then nobody really wanted to be a cruiserweight. 210 was what most of the heavyweights were. So 190 was just a catchweight area for tired lightheavyweights not quite big enough to make 210lb.

I tend to look at Holyfield as a genuine prospect who was picking up belts at the 10 fight stage. He was learning on the job but it did not matter. Heavyweight was the goal. Nobody is anybody until about the 20 fight stage.

That’s the trouble with multi belt eras. Just because there are belts to pick up dosnt really make real champions. Look at Anthony Joshua. He picked up a belt before the 20 fight stage. He was learning on the job.

This was also a multi belt era only cruiserweight wasn’t effectively a real or serious division yet. Evander looks like a big fish in a small pond, only he was still developing in that pond. Cruiserweight was really a nursery for him before he moved up.

1950s and 1960s heavyweight title scene was leagues above the 1980s cruiserweight scene even if much of the fighters were the same size.

 

Holyfied and it wouldn't last long. Unlike Ali Holyfield would be all business. Holyfield stops Cooper within 5 rds

 

A couple of months after beating up Thomas he did the same to Dokes do you think he suddenly improved in these months, or was he already good enough to beat the likes of Henry Cooper whose best win was a debated decision over an off form Folley who kod him in2 rds in the rematch.

 

Holy wins by stoppage, winning every round prior to KO. And Cooper never knocks him down like vs Ali.

 

I think that the cruiserweight division at that point was so shallow that being a champion of it (at that time, the 1980s) wasn’t really up to much. And that’s okay because Holyfield went on to better things.

The Qawi fight was entertaining, one of my favourites, but needs to be taken into perspective. Qawis most impressive title defence at cruiserweight was against a journeyman in a shot Leon Spinks. Even Ocasio was a champion... in the scheme of things, I think Willie Pastrano or Joe Erskine And Brian London would have beaten cruiserweight versions of Leon Spinks and Ossie Ocasio.

Certainly Holyfield is vastly superior to Henry Cooper overall . But if anyone wants to look at a point of his career (Before he was quite ready for faded guys like James Tilllis and Pinklon Thomas) where Evander possibly might lose to a seasoned pro, then it would be during the learning curve of his cruiserweight career.

One fight can take a boxer to the next level. The Dokes fight was one of those that took him up a notch.

 

Point being the Dokes fight was only a couple of months after theThomas fight.
1988 Rankings

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Ricky Parkey
3. Dwight Muhammad Qawi
4. Bert Cooper
5. Henry Tillman
6. Lee Roy Murphy
7. John Odhiambho
8. Bernard Benton
9. Alfonso Ratliff
10. Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

I doubt Henry would beat Qawi,and Cooper,and he would have his hands full with Parkey,Tillman,and Murphy. Henry lost to quite a few fringe guys
Bygraves,Rischer,Johnson,etc,he was really only a fringe contender himself.
Plus he wouldn't have any weight advantage over these crusiers.

 

Because it’s only hypothetical, I see no reason why (the Henry Cooper of his best night) could not be matched with confidence against anyone on that 1988 cruiserweight list. If you watch Cooper against Joe Erskine it is a better level than Ricky Parker, Alfonso Ratliff were putting out in that division. Especially since Glen Mcrory would soon win a belt in that division.

Again, beating up the faded Thomas did not lift Evander into the next echelon because Thomas was offering only target practice. This was not anything like an elite fighter. Just a bag workout.

The resistance Dokes put up (in the Ring Magazines heavyweight fight of the 1980s) really put Evander onto the next level. Dokes was no longer world level himself but the experience of that fight prepared Holyfield for what came next. I think Evander would have needed that experience before he would necessarily guarantee a win against a genuine elite 1960s heavyweight.

So I would say after Dokes he smashes Henry Cooper to pieces. Before that it could be 50-50.

 

In Cooper era it was no big deal for LHW facing HW as there was no CW division and
the HW division was where the big bucks were. However Holyfield was like Jones Jr
a ready made pro and even at this stage a too talented obstacle for Henry to overcome.
Holyfield stops Cooper cuts mid rds.