Did Foreman ruin Holyfield?

Foreman for most of the fight acted like a Heavy Bag, getting hit at will, he only had some some success because Holyfield tried to get a stoppage and engaged up close but did not have or never had upper level Heavyweight fire power to get the KO, even Foreman admitted on the HBO recast that if Holyfield would have real Heavy power he would have been in big trouble.

If Holyfield would have strictly boxed he would have white washed the Old Man

Holyfield had a very Fan friendly style, was usually in shape , came to fight and did not carry personal baggage outside of the Ring.

Foreman did not damage him , Holyfield did it to himself by trading ..................trading with a washed up Dokes, trading with stepping stone Cooper etc.

On the champion ship level he was never the "Man", see 1-2 vs Bowe, some say 0-3. 0-2 vs Lewis, 1-1 vs Moorer, 1-1-1 vs Ruiz...........he lost more than he won, fact.

But as usual Tyson, Tyson, Tyson, Tyson....................that is the only rack he can put his hat on with two wins vs a washed up post prison Tyson impersonator who fought roughly 8 rounds in close to five years while sitting in prison until he met Holyfield.

 

He took harder shots from Cooper an Bowe

 

Riddick Bowe.

 

Than the 74 version for sure but either are very dangerous fights for Holyfield especially given his slug it out approach. Either version ends Holyfields prime at the minimum imho.

 

We have video tape .. where was the heavy damage ? it may have been the fight I Saw him get hit least ..

 

Qwai 1, Dokes, Cooper, Bowe 1, 2, 3, Moorer 1, Seward 2, Lewis 1 , Lewis 2, Tyson 1 and Tyson 2 and possibly Holmes who did hit him far more ..

 

He said himself has stated Foreman hit him the hardest, on several occasions.

He would know.

 

In a few rounds he held tightly and was in bad shape, but he recovered well and fought back bravely.

 

Holy said Foreman hit him so hard he blacked out on his feet a couple of times. After the tenth round he went back to his corner and asked them, quite seriously, if George had knocked all his teeth out.

So yeah, Foreman hit him the hardest. Bowe hit him with a tremendous right uppercut, but it was more a combination and accumulation of blows that put him down later in the fight.

If Mike had hit him as hard as Bowe and Foreman he would certainly have brought it up. Holy is a pretty transparent dude...he was also imo the 4th greatest ATG of the division.

 

Holmes didn`t land anything heavy he was too busy spoiling on the ropes in a boring fight.

 

No, the Bowe trilogy took his prime away.

 

He was never in bad shape , remotely close to going down, knees buckling or holding on for life .. George landed a couple of times and Evander actually took it incredibly well ... this stuff is myth ..

 

You might check interviews with Holy concerning that fight, there are several on youtube. He contradicts what you've written.

 

The stuff is on camera. We both know you hate Foreman, but I'm not going to argue with someone when I can simply look at the footage:

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4:58 Foreman lands his first heavy jab snapping Holyfield's head back. He lands another 5 seconds later and it once again snaps the head back. Foreman's jab was so powerful he would sometimes push Hoylfield too far back too follow up with another shot, and this happens numerous times.

9:30 Foreman stuns Hoylfield with a combination

10:10 overhand right makes Hoylfield's knee buckle.

12:57 strong body shots makes Hoylfield lift his leg in pain.

15:42 Hoylfield holds on for a breather. Tries to clinch again 10 seconds later but is pushed off.

16:53 3rd and 4th clinch in round 4 by Hoylfield. To be fair, he finished the round strong and landed some solid blows.


18:52 Foreman's lands a strong left to the body making Hoylfield flinch in pain lifting his leg again.

21:40 combination from Foreman makes Hoylfield's knees buckle, something you claimed never happened.

24:22 Foreman lands a looping left hook then sends Hoylfield taking several steps backwards.

25:08 Foreman lands a powerful right hand that stumbles Hoylfield making him hop on one leg off balance.

32:24 after eating another snappy jab from Foreman and being backed into the ropes, Hoylfield clinches for a breather. Another thing you said never happened.

38:00 Foreman lands clubbing shots that rocks Hoylfield who immediately goes into a clinch. Holyfield is still hurt and clinches again at 38:16

38:30 Hoylfield clinches 2 more times practically wrestling at this point and the ref keeps having to break it up.

40:55 Crowd boos as Foreman lands a right hand and Hoylfield spams clinches to recover.

45:48 the ref has to basically pry Hoylfield off of Foreman because Hoylfield flat out refuses to stop clinching and hasn't been deducted a point for some reason.



So I have proven that at multiple points in the fight, Foreman had Hoylfield hurt, stunned, on weak shaky legs, knees buckling, and had Holyfield clinching multiple times to avoid getting hit by follow up shots. Hoylfield himself also says he was in bad shape and credits Foreman as being the one who hit him the hardest and I'll certainly take his word over a guy who attempts to derail every single Foreman thread he finds to discredit him.

 

Great , and who hit who the hardest ? Watch the fight. Believe your eyes. Holyfield was never seriously hurt or staggered or close to going down. Foreman won possibly two rounds and only because he managed to land a few decent shots ... enough with the romanticizing ... Bert Cooper, a small journeyman gave Evander a much tougher fight in his next bout ..