Could Holyfield Have Being A Dominant Force In the 1970s?

He fares a little worse than Lewis who I believe wins a championship in the 70s. I have Lewis as a push against George, Muhammad, and Larry and a favorite against Joe and Ken. Evander is a push against Ken, and a loser against Muhammad George, and Joe. Lennox definitely wins a title in the 70s. Evander has a shot.

 

If Holyfield was in the 70s, Norton may have been his "Bowe".

 

No

 

Holyfield would not dominate but he would have two or three signature wins among Frazier, Ali, Foreman, Foreman--even a younger Holmes. I can see him winning against any of them and he would come away as one of the best of the generation, right in stride with the top tier fighters even if he takes some losses. He would have been a champion at some point and he would have been regarded similarly to Frazier but overall more complete as a fighter with a deeper resume. Evander would dispose of many mid tier guys, I don't think Shavers or Quarry would be a problem for him. I am also thinking about how crazy of a fight Lyle vs. Holyfield would be.

 

I think Holmes and Foreman proved that the golden era is much greater.
He might have give a good fight for Ali for his skill, chin stamina and aggressiveness, but he wouldn't be more than a top contender Imo

 

He wouldn’t have dominated. No. But he would have consistently been a top 3 player and for brief spurts might even have temporarily been #1

 

He could maybe be #4 in the pre-Holmes era. I feel like him and Norton would go to war, and they would probably split their fights something like 1-1-1. He could probably beat just about everyone else beneath the top performers.

 

Holyfield should have earned the moniker by now. Dude proved he's the real deal. Any era.

x4 HW champion robbed of a 5th against Valuev.

Undisputed with 3 defenses tying Dempsey, passing Foreman, Tunney, Schmeling, Carnera, Baer, Braddock, Sharkey, Walcott, Ingo, Liston, Spinks, Douglas, Bowe, Lewis, and Usyk. Tyson, Ali, Frazier, Patterson, Charles, Marciano, and Louis make the short list of men who were more dominant than Holyfield

Undisputed CW

ATG resume

Should be respected in any era.

 

He might win one with Ali, he’d beat Frazier and Foreman, Foreman would get lit up BAD and I think in a series EH would outfight Frazier I’d be curious to see EH’s power against guys his own size, he’d be the biggest elite guy of the era actually lol well provided he gets to bring his “extra” - Quarry (interesting bout doe), Ellis, Chuvalo, Bonavena and Lyle those sort of guys? They don’t have a shot… Norton gets KO’d and his biggest test is probably Young next to Ali? Just a styles thing, Holmes would 100% beat him when he shows up at the world level.

 

Another thing is what size Holyfield would have been in the 70s. In the late 80s, he packed on muscle to become large enough for heavyweight. But in the 70s, the 187-190 pound cruiserweight Holyfield would have been a heavyweight and he may not have seen the need to add muscle.

The Holyfield that was a great fighter in the 90s was well over 200 pounds. How would he have done if he was the 187 pounds he was when he stopped Qawi if he was 187 pounds against Lewis or Mike Tyson or Riddick Bowe?

Although, I still see a 190ish Holyfield being a great fighter in the 70s. I can see a 190 pound Holyfield beating Shavers or Lyle or Quarry, but I Don't know about Foreman and the smaller size wouldn't do him any favors vs Norton or Ali.

 

No. He would loss to Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Norton and Holmes so not even top 5

 

**** yes

 

Def be top 5 i don't think he would ever beat Ali or Holmes but I think he would have a good chance against Frazier and Foreman and I don't think anyone else in the era could beat him.