Cruiserweight Holyfield vs some of the 70s crew

He's better than them all but whether he can remain consistent enough to beat them all without picking up a loss is debatable.

 

Definitely, especially if Holyfield didn't get rid of him early!

 

Very possibly although Evander was ultimately used to fighting even bigger men. But only when he himself was 210lbs or so.

Holy the far more natural fighter, Ken maybe the better all round athlete. I wouldnt be betting on this.

 

I don't like picking ppl to knock out Patterson bc ppl do it so frequently, and holyfield didn't ko a ton of heavyweights. But the thing is Patterson was a super middleweight with the same early training as Tyson and I see holyfield stopping him.

I could see young or Norton troubling evander. Im both cases I see a tight decision leaning towards holyfield based on his insane workrate in his prime.

The rest I see him as a comfortable favorite but part of why he was so exciting was he very rarely had a one sided easy win

 

A young 190 lbs holy might have beaten some of those guys but I don’t know if he’d go undefeated with that list. He was still very young, inexperienced and nowhere near as strong as he later would be. In fact I’m thinking Ken Norton is one of the guys who might beat a cruiser holy

 

I honestly need to watch more cruiser Holyfield, but I felt he struggled a bit with Tillman and was pretty gassed by round 5

he for sure loses to Bonavena, Bonavena was a much better inside fighter, had better fundamentals, and was a lot tougher, he drags Holyfield into deep water consistently coming out on top whenever it goes to the inside along the way, and somewhere around or a bit past 7 starts dominating even more

I think 72 Patterson beats Holyfield by a wide margin too, out boxing him, using is superior speed and combinations, and dominating inside scraps especially round 5 and deeper

I think Holyfield could out box Mathis, but I would say this is his next most dangerous opponent as Mathis could definitely KO cruiser Holyfield

I think Ellis and Norton could be close, I'd give Holyfield the best chance against Quarry and Young

 

He will outbox Bonavena, Quarry, Mathis and Ellis.

But i don't favor him over Norton, Patterson and Young.
Prime Norton is too much for him. So i guess he will wear him down with his raw physics and condition. 1972 Patterson is just too smart. If he don't cut, i think he will gain Holyfields respect with some sharp counters and eventually outpoint him. Young in his prime is an unprecedented phenomenon on it's own. Otherwise slick boxers were not really kryptonite for Holyfield as he was rather competitive vs Toney when he was well past his prime. So i guess 50-50 for that.

 

I think it would also depend on exact timing. I think the eleven fight version of Holyfield who fought life and death with an old Qawi in 1986 would lose to just about all those heavies you listed. The 1988 Evander who had unified the cruiser crown and was on the verge of moving up in weight probably beats a few of them. The 1990 rendition who was now a full fledged heavy and winning the title likely beats all

 

Sorry