Ali from the Foreman fight vs the best version of Holyfield

He fought better, arguably, but until Fan Man, I felt he had the momentum. Bowe, understandably came out without the same energy whilst Evan had his second wind

 

I'm not convinced Holy won that fight to begin with.

 

It was close. A case of momentum perhaps.

Judges are human. Very easy to award a fight to the man who seemed to dominate the final rounds in a close fight/award the round to the guy who came on in the last minute of the round. This is something that Robbi, Ali, SRL etc. were very good at.

 

I think that's what happened. I've never had Bowe losing that fight and I've watched it a couple dozen times (though it was always by only one or two points). Still, I feel the judges should have given Bowe the Champion's benefit of a doubt.

 

Holy would have had major problems reconciling his darting-in style with that nasty jab of Larry's. Perhaps the more bulked out version of Holy does better, as the Dokes-era might fold easier. Smaller guys tended to get ultimately very discouraged by that heavy jab, and when the rights start landing...

Another big factor is Holmes' uppercut, which might be the only thing resembling a power punch he ever had. Not too far away in terms of strength from Bowe's, Holy could have all KINDS of problems with that.

He looked a lot better, from all perspectives. But I don't think he ever seriously bothered Bowe during that fight, while Bowe seemed to stand his ground and gain respect more than a few times. A very close fight, but as I mentioned above I never had Holy actually winning or even drawing. Most of the time I had it for Bowe by a point or (on the rare occasion) two.