To my shame, I haven't seen the first Tyson/Holyfield fight. Sure, I've seen the end and read a lot but never had a burning desire to watch it. Was it a good contest or a slightly one sided affair?
It's a good contest, very competitive for the 1st half of the fight. The first time I had Evander ahead was after the 7th from memory. Although by that stage it was apparent who the winner would be.
A bit of a stop-start fight which didn't flow in the earlier rounds. Not much in it during the first five rounds but it all went wrong for Tyson in the sixth - the cut, the knockdown and the way Holyfield finished the round strongly, teeing off on him. From that point on there was never any doubt who would win, and Tyson never looked a threat again for the remainder. Tyson looked absolutely trash. Flat-footed, loading up with singles instead of putting combinations together, complaining to the referee all the time, easily pushed around and subdued in the clinch. Holyfield was able to conserve energy and pace himself because he could land a counter left hook or short right whenever Tyson was wide open and then clinch, where he met no resistance from Tyson. Wasn't really the night of the jab until the second half when Tyson's head was dropping, after which Holyfield started to soften him up with it a bit more. He also whacked Tyson to the body a few times which you rarely ever saw a Tyson opponent do.
I wasn't born when this fight took place, but I would say watching it live at the time. It was probably very exciting because it was such an unexpected result. Watching it now and knowing the result, I don't think it's that good of a Heavyweight fight. It wouldn't make my top 10 for the decade, but if you've never seen the full fight definitely worth watching for historical purposes.
Holyfield was in total control I thought. A fantastic fight to watch live and a momentous event and upset. In rewatching though Evander bossed it. He controlled the range, shut Tyson down in his hot spot and roughed him up in close. Tyson took his lumps admittedly but Holyfield showed he was the more proven, adaptable all round great fighter than the front running early round threat that Tyson was.
More of an engrossing moment and dramatic event than a great fight. KInd of like watching and old stadium or bridge get imploded. Lots of "oooh's" and aaaah's," that kind of thing.
Same with lots of great fights- Ali vs Foreman; Leonard vs Hagler etc. The event makes it, rather than the actual action.
True; it helps though, that all these were pretty good fights at least. The action was at least worthy of the event supporting it.
I was a freshman in college, came home that weekend to watch with my pops. One of my friends (also a boxing fan) had also come back from school to watch with his father, and his father was a huge Holyfield fan and throwing a watch party. We went over his house to watch it. A lot of people there, a lot of BBQ, a lot of beer, a good fight, and to this day I can remember my friend's father going nuts rooting for Holyfield from the KD in Round 6 onward. It was definitely an event, many of the guys I was friends with had plans on where they were going to watch the fight.
Definitely well worth watching as it was a significant bout in the decade and it was a good contest too. Watching the event at the time, though, it was one of the most exciting fights I’ve ever seen.
For a first-time viewer, I would imagine it would be eye-opening even knowing the result as it was when it unfolded live. It’s a sight to behold Holyfield’s physical dominance, by which I mean how he manhandled Tyson and backed him up in the clinches, just how much stronger he was. If you break it down it’s all down to leverage, but he made it look to some degree like man vs. boy (not that it wasn’t competitive early, but as far as who was dictating terms and pushing the other guy around, he made it a point to show Tyson who was boss in that way and it was startling at the time).
