The best 190 pound version of Holyfield fights the primest 190ish version of Archie Moore. Who takes it?
Holy would and I say this the utmost respect for Evander Holyfield who earned his nickname… have been beaten into small pieces by Archie Moore at 190lbs, he was too green and not close to the professional the “Mongoose” was, it’d be an outclassing on a similar level to Holyfield vs Toney but with a KO result and this seems like an obvious conclusion IMO.
Thinking about this matchup i also drew the analogy to the Tony fight and the stylistic issues. Archie was such a good trap setter. He is too crafty...so i assume he will outsmart Holyfield, also score a few knockdowns and wins a UD
If he wanted to win it “easy” he’d hit Holyfield but not enough to try and KO just turn on it enough to keep him in line, take the openings but don’t get dragged inside use that spot to sneak a few in and be slippery - Holyfield would expend himself against the ropes like he did with Holmes if Archie took him there but he’d land a lot more and do damage to Holyfield - eventually down the road EH slows down mentally he’d keep fighting hard but he’d get predictable and that’s where Moore would start to close the show and the judges would find an obvious winner.
I am a big Holyfield fan, but Moore is all wrong for him. I always thought Evander was at his best against guys that were aggressive and stepped right to him. I think Archie punches too hard and is far too clever, he eventually catches Holyfield with something big and the fight is stopped late with Evander still on his feet.