96 Holyfield destroys 86-88 tyson

Prime Holyfield would usually beat prime Tyson. 96 Holyfield vs Prime Tyson is more of a toss-up. I don't see Tyson stopping that Holyfield, probably something to the tune of Tyson gets off to a nice start and Holyfield finishes strong, decision could go either way.

 

:good

 

I actually see Tyson winning a close fight as they were in 1991 primarily due to the constant willingness Holyfield showed when it came to trading with punchers more powerful than himself. Every time I want to say Tyson stops him outright, it goes back to the unbelievable heart, chin and recuperative powers he showed in the first Bowe fight that shouts "Bull****!". Holyfield was tougher than dirt. And intimidated by absolutely no one.

 

Sorry for the confusion, I meant three ATG HW scalps.

And as I mentioned, I think all of them would have taken him in their primes.

Well, Bowe would probably be close to top twenty. ATG might be a bit much, it would depend on definitions.

But remember, Bowe clearly won that series. Evander having a win there is a bit like Lamotta having a win over SRR, or Rahman having a win over Lewis.

Norton, Shavers, Witherspoon, Snipes, Tucker, Thomas, Ruddick, Bruno etc, might be considered to be on Bowe's general level. However, i would place Bowe at or near the top of that list.

But like I said, based on their series, Bowe would clearly outrank Holy on a h2h basis.

 

If Tyson had his original team and never got into trouble imagine how great he would be in the 90s then

 

I said 86, not 96.

My point is that if Tyson at his supposed peak in 88 were to have been put in with Holyfield or Lewis while at his *peak* in 88, the Tysonites would then have *moved the peak years* back to a couple years to avoid having to admit that Holy would have beaten ANY version of Tyson.

With Tyson's downfall, it was more of who he was in with, than him in supposed physical decline.

Holyfield's skill and jab prevented Tyson from looking as impressive as he did in 88, even though Tyson tried like hell to take Holy out, he was just outskilled and outmatched and his physical status was not a factor, as he was the normal Tyson we saw steemroll so many a few years before.........its just that he was outmatched when he met Holyfield.

Period.

 

how the **** he took all those uppercuts ??? this is inhuman :scaredas::scaredas:

 

You've a right to believe that.

I'd disagree considering I feel Evander is both much better and greater than Lamotta and Rahman. Holyfield was also fighting at a fairly significant size disadvantage.

A lot of those are a reach IMO (with the exception of Norton, whom at 34 in 1978 summoned one last great performance), particularly taking into account where they were at the particular time some of those fights took place. I'm talking about time specific versions. Bowe was a top 3 heavyweight rom 1991-95 consecutively and had a legitimate claim as the man in the division and the lineage of the Heavyweight title unlike virtually all of those listed. That's not even getting into the particulars about how his skillset matches up which is an argument that isnt won as it relies far more on subjective viewpoints.

Whew.

Certainly debatable, although I'd also consider what they accomplished outside of the series.

 

disagree. first off to say that 96 holy would "destroy" 85-88 tyson is ludicrisp as mike would say because 96 holy didn't even "destroy" 96 tyson (he stopped him fairly late and it wasn't a domination) but i'd take younger tyson b/c a) holyfield was geared up in 96 (already losing his hair, miraculous heart condition solved?, incredible recoup powers....) b) tyson's skills had tailed off significantly by when they fought (fewer combos, headhunting took over, defense more porous) and tyson had his moments in the first fight and second right before going crazy; c) the "anyone who ever fought back wins theory" re tyson is b.s (more than a few tried to fight back in his heyday and couldn't to the point that winning a couple of rounds was a great achievement v tyson)

 

Tyrell Biggs had a great jab and was demolished by an angry and motivated Tyson who believed Tyrell stole his Olympic spot. That Tyson would have easily slipped Holy's jab and hit him with combinations that Holyfield wouldn't see, much the same way Holyfield didn't see the right hand from Bert that put him on ***** street.

If Bert Cooper, a slow, less technical CW can put Holyfied on ***** street, a motivated and properly trained Tyson KO's him in 5.

 

Good stuff.

 

:rofl

 

I thought this said "96 year old Holyfield destroys..."