Baer had the kind of power to take you out, he was not always prepared mentally and physically while Evander (except for the heart issues) was always prepared) but I can see Baer hurting Evander because EH liked to mix and Baer could hit like Bowe with the right hand. The Baer of the Schmeling fight beat the EH of the Ruiz fights, possibly the Bowe fights,the Toney fights and beyond. Best to Best, I may go with EH because of his work-rate and pace but Baer had dangerous power.
I seriously doubt Baer hit harder than any of these. He also telegraphed the punch like a mug, throwing it from another zip code. Can you imagine how hard Lewis or Foreman would hit if they threw like it was a circus fairway contest? Holyfield by KO7. Too much speed, too much boxing ability, too good footwork… and too much power.
Baer seems like a head case to me .. a bit of a front runner and not the all time warrior .. no doubt if highly motivated, a huge if, with his size and reach and power he'd be dangerous for a guy that trades when hit .. Baer's power was real .. Holyfield had a monster chin and was far more skilled and of course I like him to pound out a decision but Holyfield was rarely in a bad fight so there could be some interesting moments ..
I THINK 1933 Baer would probably ko VANDER. The Baer of Braddock fight didn't train, the BAER WHO DESTROYED Schmeling did!!!!
Yet it took him 10 rounds to polish off a fighter who Gypsy Daniels beat in 1. Holyfield was one of the best conditioned heavys of all time when in his prime and took the punches of men like Lewis, Foreman, Cooper, Bowe, Dokes, Rahman, Mercer, Moorer and Stewart. He was only stopped when past his past and in most cases with health issues.
Holy by a tko somewhere around the 10th round. Sure Baer hit harder no argument there but his skills weren't up to par to beat Holy.
Holyfield by decision or possible late round stoppage. He just has too much of everything for Baer to overcome. Baer had a potent right hand, good chin and not much else while Holyfield had solid boxing skills, good chin, much better combinations and better footwork than Max. Baer could take it and take it he would in this one from a two fisted fighter who threw hard combinations and boxed with efficiency. Holy by decision.
Max Baer went 67-13 (51) overall, 1-1 (1) in HW World Title Fights, and was stopped 3 times. He was considered a very big man in his prime but in reality he was the same height as Holyfield with a slightly longer reach. Their weight was close. At Baer's best he stopped Max Schmeling in the 10th round (1933) and Primo Carnera in the 11th round (1934 for the HW World Title). These fights were back to back. He lost the HW World Title in his first defense, L15 to Jimmy Braddock. In his next fight he was stopped in the 4th round by Joe Louis. Prior to the Schmeling fight he had lost 7 fights. The fighters he lost to combined for a record of 216-67-15. Jack McCarthy, Tiny Abbott (KO6 in their rematch), Les Kennedy (KO3 in their rematch), Ernie Schaaf (W10 in their rematch), Tommy Loughran, and Paulino Uzcudun. Frankie Campbell died a day after fighting Baer as a result of injuries sustained during their bout. Ernie Schaaf beat Baer in their first fight but lost a MD to Baer in their rematch. He took a beating in the final round. Schaaf actually went 2-1 (2) in his next 3 fights, the loss was by SD and was avenged by KO. After these 3 fights he fought Primo Carnera and was stopped in the 13th round. He died 4 days later due to injuries sustained in the fight. Holyfield beats Baer, and it's not even a close fight.
Holyfield would beat him up. It would almost look like the quarter back picking on the kid with down syndrome. In other words, the best Max Baer has no chance against the best Holyfield.
