Buster Douglas Prime Vs Evander Holyfield Prime

I like Buster.. just.
The jab control s everything , Holyfield never fully solves it.
He's forced to reset over and over .
Buster avoid s the exact fight that Holyfield wants
Buster shows those timed counters,every time Evander step's in he pays for it.
This is the best ever version of BD, the Tyson fight one, so I see him getting a close decision over the Real Deal.

 

Here's the issue.

People assume Douglas only turned up against Tyson but that's a myth.

Douglas was in very good form between 1986-1989 prior to the Tyson fight.

Wins over Page, McCall, Berbick, M.Williams.

Now whilst Douglas was good vs Tyson he wasn't really tested in that fight outside of the knockdown.

And even then Douglas had to think about getting up in a fight he was dominating.

Holyfield will be testing Douglas's suspect heart/temperament alot more than that version of Tyson in Tokyo.

And I don't think Douglas could last 12 rounds against a prime Holyfield testing his heart and will round after round.

 

I don't know. We are comparing Buster's best, which was very good, but by using the metric of a fight against a probably ill prepared, unmotivated, poor version of an ATG. Mikey had long since given up his buzzsaw pressure, constant movement, repeating decimal jab and was intent on cashing in on his aura and power, walking straight lines forwards and back with a 'bad intentions baby' soundtrack thudding in his head. Evander was much more clever than this. Will he eat jabs? Absolutely, but they won't deter him, and once at his range he will tattoo Buster up and down that long body. Evander will fight at a pace Douglas can't match and come from behind on the cards, stopping him around the 8th. Evander was a better boxer than people credit him and was adept at slipping a jab and closing space. I think the best Douglas maybe edges it on skill but the best Evander takes every other metric...

 

GREAT analysis--spot on! Douglas keeps Evander at bay with his jab and reach advantage and if he tries to bore inside Buster effectively counters and does damage.

 

I don't know, but I see Douglas dominating Tyson much more than Holyfield. On the other hand, Tyson was in worse shape against Douglas than he was against Holyfield, so it's not exactly the same, especially since style makes the fight. But then again, Douglas's style isn't good for Holyfield. I think, in his Tokyo form, Buster is bigger, faster, and more dangerous than the best version of Holyfield.

 

Holyfield had more strings to his bow than Tyson, which would allow him to change plans if it wasn’t working.

Douglas only proved he could handle one style at the elite level, and that was a style which came forward, ducked and sprung in with power punches, so he had to measure him, make sure he was out of range and time him with uppercuts.

Holyfield can box with you, he can counter on the backfoot and on the outside, but he can also pressure as well, so it’s completely different skillset, and Douglas simply didn’t prove enough in dealing with other styles at the elite level for me to pick him against Holyfield, even the Tokyo version.

 

Holyfield by late stoppage. A case of a very good fighter vs a great one who didnt have glaring stylistic weaknesses.

 

Douglas was a talented guy and I think he would give a fairly good account of himself, but ultimately lose the fight, I’ll say in a late rounds stoppage

 

I think people are forgetting that at the time of the Buster title fights Holyfield had not yet beat Tyson. We still thought Tyson was the BMOTP. He beats Mike but then destroyed by Evander so must be that he didn’t train and gave up. Yes he was 15 lbs or so heavier looks like he let himself get out of shape and didn’t dedicate to get all the way back. If he was in the same shape he was for the Tyson fight he would have to do much better but not necessarily win. Holyfield was that good as we would find out when he decisively beat Mike twice after that. My money Evander one way or another still beats him.

 

I'll go for the guy who shows up every time and has been extremely proven over many fights against good to great opposition.

 

I still like Evander to pull it out, but there’s no doubt it would be a very different fight from their actual meeting. James Douglas was very mobile for a bigger guy with a good jab, solid right cross and upper cut. He wasn’t the best for taking punches but then Evander wasn’t a big power hitter at heavy. I think it could go the distance if both are at their best.

 

As I am sure my late great Grandfather would have said, so I will say: If this actually happened, bet heavily on an Evander Holyfield win, very heavily.

 

Buster is being massively underrated here .If we're talking about the best version of James buster Douglas ,i don't think Evander just walks through him at all.
That version had one of the best jabs since Larry Holmes , fast, accurate and constant.Holyfield , especially early was hittable coming in .
He's not slipping that jab all night and Buster has the size and reach to keep resetting him , that's what I think the key will be here.
People say Holyfield would just out fight him inside but that's assuming Buster let's it become that type of fight.Against Tyson he showed he could control range and tie up smartly.
I'm not even saying that Buster becomes the perfect fighter over night against Holyfield but he's got more than enough to beat him,in a close decision fight.

 

Buster Douglas is better at boxing then Evander Holyfield. The problem is Douglas was fairly fragile for a guy his size and Holyfield has 12 rounds to get him. Holyfield usually wasn't the most lethal HW but neither was Tucker.