Evander Holyfield vs Joe Louis

Louis wins this - in a war.

I don't see there being that much in it to the naked eye. But, Louis has the upperhand in a few key areas - speed, accuracy and power - and this will take its toll on Holyfield, who has plenty of good moments, early-to-mid-way in, and looks to have Joe in trouble, on a couple of occasions.

Ultimately, however, Holyfield becomes too easy for Louis to time, as he starts to out-land Holyfield by at least 2:1. The damage starts piling up, as Holyfield gets quickly worn down and battered under Joe's superior firepower, towards an inevitable loss.

Joe Louis W UD12 (over 12 rounds) or W TKO14 (over 15 rounds).

 

I think Holyfield mostly controls the early fight with his footwork and counters. He may knock Louis down once or twice, but he doesn't make it out unscathed.

I think as the fight goes on Louis begins to have more and more success winning rounds by timing and countering Holy with hard right crosses and left hooks at mid range, and breaking him down with powerful hooks and uppercuts when he tries to fight close, though The Real Deal takes them pretty well.

Knowing that the fight is getting closer, Holy comes back late in an attempt stop Louis and starts fighting toe to toe with him, knowing that he can take Louis' shots better than Louis can take his.
He hurts Joe, but punches himself out trying to finish him off and starts taking
Some real bombs.
I think he goes down and is then stopped on his feet while being ahead on the cards.

Joe Louis By 10th round Technical Knockout

 

Holyfield was my favorite fighter coming up, he is the guy of my generation.

I used to think all the old fighters were slow until YouTube started posting higher quality videos of these guys.

Watching both men on film, it's clear Evander even in his own time was below average in the hand speed department. Great combination puncher but not a fast one. His feet weren't even very fast, which is why he used constant movement like he did.

There is no way you can objectively say Evander has faster hands than Louis. It's all on footage, Louis is up there with Tyson and Patterson in terms of the speedy delivery of power punch combinations.

It's a great testament to Evander he went as far as he did with his lack of size, punching power, and elite speed. People fault him for brawling, but ultimately he had to take such risks, because he didn't have the physical gifts to cruise on the outside. He usually had the advantage on accuracy and counter punching which gave him a shot of gaining ground in exchanges.

That's how he beat Moorer in the rematch btw...it confused the commentary but that's why he started laying on the ropes when he fell behind on points, inviting Moorer into shoot outs.

Louis demonstrated he could beat much larger men with fast accurate combinations and counters. It's not a stretch to pick him over Lewis. Louis is maybe a bit taller than Evander, similiar reach, and with faster hands and genuine knock out power. Holyfield hurt Lewis several times with counters over the jab and body punching, not a stretch to pick Louis over him.

 

Im sorry, but I just can’t see how Holyfield has below average foot and hand speed, I watch him and I see fast hands and feet

 

Activity and accuracy. He was slower than most of his opponents despite typically being the smaller man.

 

What an incredible machine. Even 60s Ali would have had his hands full (though I think he might have outlasted Joe in a 15 rounder).

 

I completely agree when it comes to 60s Ali. FOTC Ali would have been quite a handful for Joe as well imo.

 

I like your analysis

 

I'd pick Louis to win a split decision in a war. Holyfield could very well win over 12, over 15 I think Louis would take it. Don't see either man getting stopped, but both might get knocked down.

 

Maybe he's thinking of the older Holyfield. Remember, Evander was 30 yrs old by the 1st Bowe fight already (the cliche that started then, "EH showed more in his first defeat than he ever did in victory" was disingenuous BTW).

 

Watch Qawi vs Holyfield 1.

Qawi had faster hands in the exchanges, beating him to the punch and had no trouble closing the distance.

I've watched the man's entire career. He was typically only faster when against an older or out of shape guy.

In several key fights he was the slower guy. Qwai 1, Dokes, Bowe (hands only), Moorer 1 and 2, Tyson, Lewis.

He was quicker than Foreman, Holmes, fat Douglas, Cooper, Stewart. These guys were all snails though.

He was very active and busy, especially in his prime. I guess when I say "below average" it's relative to who you are comparing him to. In this case other elite athletes in his weight range. He's not "below average" in the sense of comparing him to everyone in history who laced them up.

 

I wasn't too impressed with his peak speed, Qawi was quicker and he wasn't exactly in his prime either. If we are talking cruiser Holyfield we are then comparing him with other sub 200 lb men, where again he doesn't rate too impressive historically. Is he faster than even guys
like Eddie Machen, Bob Foster, or Jinx? Jinx wasn't getting beat to the punch by a much younger Qwai.

You do bring up a good point that Evander spent a lot of his career in the 90s as the older man. He also gained a lot of weight . That certainly could be a factor.