Could Evander Holyfield make it 49-0 in the 50s?

Yes, we definitely will. One can see he was kind getting his timing back round for round against someone who was a level or two above anyone he'd faced since Young eleven years earlier. To believe you can go that many years with inactivity and without facing anything above D level opposition and not need more serious tune ups is a bit far fetched imo.

Not to mention that it takes time to really get your conditioning up and running if you've come back after a long time off and have had massive amounts of weight to get rid of. You need a lot of time in the gym and some fights like the one against Qawi, where you have to dig a bit.

If one wants to look how comeback George did against a swarmer, I think Cooper is better because that was another 15 months down the line.

 

But that was never going to be a competitive fight when it is so well documented what went on with Cooper before that bout with Foreman. Bert’s performance against Holyfield is an example of what kind of resistance he did not produce against Foreman. He offered just target practice for George. This is why only bouts where an element of competitiveness is required from live opponents to draw comparisons. Cooper Simply was not a live opponent when he fought George. He may as well have been tied to a chair.

 

Plenty of fighters have tested positive for recreational drugs and still produced the goods. Bonavena is said to have been partying all night with hookers and coke before Frazier I, even Ali is said to have been with a hooker the night before FOTC. Were they "tied to a chair as well"?

The point stands, one year back against dross comp after 10 years away is not enough in terms of getting as much as possible back, which showed against Qawi. Foreman was better against Cooper, Cooney and Holy.

You of course know this, and I don't like to waste my time on posters who pretend to be dumb just to prop up their hero, so we're done here.

 

He had a win over Oma who beat him a month later , a split dec over Johnson who ko'd in him 2 months later.

Witherspoon has
Page
Smith
Bruno
Williams
Tubbs
I'd make them all favourite over Layne.

 

I am not pretending to be dumb here, I presented a legitimate point about the well documented background to Coopers fight with Foreman and expressed a clear contrast between Bert’s effort against Holyfield which are self evident.

Foreman was still under 40 & already many fights into his comeback and fighting very regularly. He had polished his skills against a varied variety of smaller and Faster foes.. and had recently had a very good bout against a strong heavyweight called Guido Trane who stood in front of George and even backed him up a bit before getting cut. Yes these guys were C level, but watch the Trane fight. I think you would be surprised.

This content is protected

 

Witherspoon, McCall, Bruno are all decent fighters from that era. But record wise they aren’t as good. H2H May be a different argument, had Layne access to steroids it may be a different story. That said I think you’d have to admit he has a good record in comparison with his peers. And as far as me personally is record is more conducive of what a fighter is capable of as opposed to how big they are. A fighters record is the ultimate proof of how good they were. And Layne has some damn good scalps. Probably only 9-15 guys with a better top five scalps.

 

He doesnt beat those I mentioned imo.Neither would he be in the top ten of the 80s for more than a fleeting visit.imo

 

Rex Layne isn’t making the top ten during the 1980s but Marty Monroe, Tex Cobb, James Broad And Aldison Rodriguez can?

 

50s is superior to the 80s imo. I think Layne would be a far better then most of those top guys with modern training methods. I think without steroids none of those top guys would be a blip on the radar in the 50s.

 

Agree whole heartedly.

I believe they were talented enough but talent was diluted with the proliferation of extra belts which effectively prevented contenders meeting enough of their own ilk before contesting for belts.