Evander Holyfield vs Tommy Loughran

Hmmm...How does he do against somebody who stands 6'9-1/2'' with an 82 inch reach, or somebody standing 6'7-1/2" with an 84 inch reach 2X?

Tommy's just about the last stylist I'd penalize for lack of size, and Carnera was fortunate that Loughran was 31 and not 26 or 27. Tommy may well have been the world's best heavyweight in the 13 months between Tunney's retirement in August 1928, and his own voluntary relinquishment of his LHW Title in September 1929.

 

Loughran may show Holyfield a few tricks, but in the end it's the sheer determination and workrate of Holyfield that would make the difference. The combinations of a prime Holyfield would keep pouring on and Loughran's left would not keep Holyfield at bay for 15 rounds.

Holyfield doesn't necessarily match up that well against a smaller mobile and fast boxer despite his success against bigger men. In Michael Moorer I form he might just give it away. Still Loughran would be giving away a lot of size to a man who was by no means a pounderous heavyweight in Holyfield. He would not enjoy a speed advantage.

 

I think he would be faster, not considerably but enough. And, like people already said, if he could hang in with a much bigger Carnera size wouldn´t be the problem with Holyfield. Would be a close fight IMO. Like you said, Holy´s determination and will might be the decider, I´m not that sure about that though.

 

He lost to Carnera because of size and Holyfield we can agree is a much different proposition to Primo. As far as handspeed goes, there's no difference, in fact it's Holyfield who put together the better combinations while Loughran largely used his left hand and little else. Loughran is definitely the more fleet of foot though.

 

True but he beat Ray Impatierre (spelling is wrong I know) and Baer - who has similar dimensions to Holy I think (?). Size wouldn´t be much of an issue here. I still disagree on the handspeed part, IMO Loughran looks slightly faster than Holy there, Holy throws the better combinations I agree.

 

No, Tommy would not necessarily enjoy a speed advantage, but he didn't need one to win. Holds victories over Greb, Carpentier and Sharkey, boxed Tunney to a standstill, and successfully dealt with numerous smaller opponents who might commonly be expected to be faster than he.

As you duly pointed out, Evander does not necessarily match up that well against a smaller mobile and fast boxer, while it can be argued that Loughran handled bigger men as well as any LHW ATG ever has.

Does Holyfield's hustle and grit hold him in good stead when he's hitting air or being clinched before he can unload? Because this is the supreme master of positioning we're considering him against, an artisan even Corbett envied. From Christmas Day 1925 until September 1929, Tommy wracked up a 38-0-0 dossier, commencing with a schooling of King Solomon, his very first heavyweight opponent. Loughran instantly took to HW competition like a fish to water. A peak Sharkey was the ONLY heavyweight to defeat him during the 1920s. His heavyweight resume pisses all over Bob Foster's.

Primo did beat him with size, strength, stamina, underrated speed and guile (no choir boy, Carnera shrewdly stepped on Tommy's feet, tipping off Max Baer to have his sparring partners practice that), but Loughran was also fading at 31, and no longer had the consistency of the late 1920s. Still, he opened up an early lead before Primo surged from behind, raising questions about what Tommy might have been able to do with Carnera a few years earlier.

 

i can't believe how underrated evander is on these boards. with his resume, you can make a case for him being a top 5 heavy ever. evander had very underrated boxing skills but could brawl, had a great chin and a big heart. i understand the points about the size difference in loughran's opponents for his success but all of evander's other attributes are going to be the main problems for loughran in this matchup.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong, I think he's the greatest heavyweight since Holmes, but I believe this comes down to a matter of hitting without being hit, and I don't think Evander can protect his chin from being scored on enough to prevent Tommy from taking the decision. It took Risko four tries to finally sneak an SD from an aging Loughran. Tommy got blindsided the first time by Hamas, spotted him an SD loss in the first return, reversed that SD the third time, then closed out the rivalry with a UD over Steve at Yankee Stadium. He avenged both his meaningful stoppage defeats.

Best for best, Evander has to take Loughran out as I see it.

 

understand your points but evander is on a different level than the heavys you listed imo. your points could be one reason holyfield stayed away from jones in '97. in all fairness to evander, there were other big money opponents out there to fight at the time. man i miss the heavyweight division of the 90s.

 

Jones would have been interesting. If Holyfield catches him, Roy's dead, but if RJJ's on his feet at the final bell...(And if Roy ill advisedly tries to keep on going, Holyfield-Jones may happen yet, but Evander would crush him now.)

 

Better than Tunney?

Charles beats Loughran IMO but I´d pick Charles to beat Holyfield too - I pick Holy to beat Tommy but I´m not confident with this pick, like said before.

 

Loughran's heavyweight feats are impressive for a 175 lber but to put it into perspective:

-The win over Sharkey was a lousy decision when both men had aged and Sharkey had become meaningless in the heavyweight picture. In their initial bout, with both men in their primes, Sharkey blew him out, hitting him with sharp right hand counters over Loughran's low left and eventually putting him out with an explosive blow.

-He beat the giant Ray Impellittiere, sure, but Ray was a relative novice who gave Loughran a hard time with his size alone, and lost in controversial fashion. Loughran "hung in there" with Carnera but was beaten decisively in one of the giant's best victories.

-The 200 pound Ernie Schaaf, a solid technician with a stature comparable to Holyfield's, outpointed Loughran twice. Steve Hamas beat him badly in their first fight, and Loughran could not get a clear advantage over him in subsequent rematches. The 6'1, 200 lb Stanley Poreda also defeated him.

Loughran was a cagey opponent even at heavyweight but it'd be a big upset if he were to beat a heavyweight of Holyfield's class. The style match-up doesn't necessarily favour him as it did against a young, wild Max Baer. The best scenario I can see for Loughran is to make it a close, disputed 10 round bout against a very off-form Evander Holyfield.

 

I totally respect the career of Loughran but doubt he has the skills to defeat a prime Holyfield. Evander was light years faster than a Baer or a Carnera while maintaining tremendous strength and power advantages over Loughran. He would also have a 5" reach advantage and know how to use it. Evander has too many advantages plus as big a heart as there ever was in the ring ... he would be too much and stop Tommy who when hit went to sleep .. Sharkey caught him and so would Evander.