Foreman vs Holyfield

Man, I don't know. If Holyfield employed his footwork and stuck and moved like he was doing in 91', then he will have success. you also have to consider that this foreman was faster and had more weapons then a jab and an overhand right: he's got a hook, and an uppercut. On the inside, George would use that uppercut very well. Holyfield's attitude about standing toe to toe would hurt him here: Holyfield can not stand toe to toe with a primed 73-74 foreman. From a distance, he might outbox Foreman, but once he stands toe to toe and starts blasting George, George will be in control here and he will use that uppercut to at least floor Holyfield. based on holyfield's heart, I don't think George will knock him out, but maybe his corner will stop the fight. this George was a much better finisher then the 91' foreman, so I think holyfield would win if he sticks to his gameplan. The thing is he didn't do that against an old foreman. a primed foreman would take advantage of that and bomb him. the fact that George was conpetetive with Holyfield gives him at least a very good chance prime vs prime.
I don't really know, but I'll take foreman by TKO. An Evander Holyfield UD wouldn't suprise me either.

 

Well thought out explanation.

To keep things simple,

I like Foreman of early 1970s to knockout any version of evander holyfield. Holy would end up brawling and get killled.

I don't know what to think of Evander. Sometimes I think of him as the perfect boxer puncher who could do everything and has one of the best resumes in history, and other times I see this flawed fighter who struggled to beat journeyman/fringe contenders, and this would hurt him against greats.

 

This version of Foreman gets overrated. Unfortunately, Foreman gets lumped in 90's Foreman. As if fighters can't decline in a few years, let alone half a decade. Foreman was already old too. His performance against Holyfield in a losing effort was great. This might be the best version of the 90's Foreman. His best moment was... well we all know that.

 

That was one of the most fun nights of my life. My Uncle got the fight on PPV, we had a bunch of people over. Every time big George did something- that 7th round- we all yelled so loud, we had people coming in off the streets. I honestly thought big George was going to win going in, so Evander really got my repsect.

 

Nice read.

The fight was great. Foreman was for real and proved it. He was well prepared that night and fought the best fight he could have.

The '91 version of Foreman who fought Holyfield compared to the '73 version of Foreman who fought Frazier are similar in some ways and different in others.

The '91 version wasn't just heavier, and the extra weight wasn't just fat. Sure, Old George had some extra chunk on him but he was doing some serious weight training and was at his all-time strongest in '91. The extra size mattered in terms of being able to bully fighters, impose his will, absorb punishment, and lean on fighters to wear them out. His arms were so big (20") that when he did his cross arm defense there wasn't much to hit.

Old George was also more patient and smarter. He paced himself well and stayed strong for 12 full rounds. Old George never punched himself out. In '91 George knew what his stengths were and how to utilize them.

The young George had a little more snap on his punches and used the hook a bit more but overall the older version of Foreman was the smarter fighter.

Which was better? It's really a toss up. In certain H2H match-ups the older version is better IMO. I think this is the case with a Holyfield vs. Foreman fight.

A younger version of Foreman just might punch himself out vs. Holyfield and get stopped in the 10th or 11th round.

 

I think the younger George knocks Evander out in the 5th round. I believe Holyfield would've went all out and attempt to knock George out and get flattened himself. Young George was faster, meaner and better than the old version.

 

I believe this was my last PPV adventure and it's tided me over. Great fight, classic part of HW history, imo. If it weren't for Holyfield's durability and being a very well schooled fighter, I'd have him getting stopped against a prime Foreman with no doubt. But, Holyfield in his better years rose to the occasion in victory or defeat and I don't think it's impossible that he see the final bell. I think he'd have an ability to fight smart and mobile. I don't know if it'd be enough to actually last and win.

That said, my judgment is clouded on this, and I can't be the only one but whenever I think Prime Foreman VS X Opponent, all my thoughts are jammed out by the memory of Foreman battering Frazier and Norton around the ring with no respect, regard or mercy and it's pretty difficult for me to imagine anyone other than the man that did it, withstanding and overcoming.

 

Only?

:rofl

 

1973 George Foreman vs Tommy Morrison, Alex Stewart, Axel Shulz, Lou Savarese, Shannon Briggs

Foreman KO 2 Briggs
Foreman KO 1 Morrison
Foreman KO 1 Stewart
Foreman KO 3 Shulz
Foreman KO 1 Savarese

 

Amen

 

I think if you took it prime for prime the problem will always be that Holyfield likes to brawl and would probably try to do so. When it comes to brawling with BGF you just dont. Siple as that.

 

Damn, can we ban this mother****er? It's a fact that Foreman was stronger in the late 80's early 90's. This doesn't translate to being a harder puncher though... but the fact remains that he was stronger than ever when he fought Holyfield, do some research on it if you don't believe me.

Now, about comparing the 70's Foreman with the late 80's/early 90's Foreman. I already stated that the younger version had more snap, threw more punches, I'll add that he was more active... but he also wasn't thinking about his opponent being around in the late rounds. The older version of Foreman was definately a smarter fighter.

I never even said that the older version of George was better than the younger version, DID I? I'm just saying that they aren't as far apart as some think they were. Some differences, some similarities. Young George was dropped a few times (Ali, Lyle, and Young) and stopped once (Ali). The older version was never dropped let alone stopped (the level of competition was less though, he did fight Holyfield, Morrison, Moorer, and Briggs though).

 

Holyfield warred with Bowe, I don't see how he'd survive even doing that in spurts against young Foreman.

 

Maybe, maybe not? It has nothing to do with Foreman vs. Holyfield though. Also, all of these fights were after the 1991 Holyfield vs. Foreman fight. Foreman did not prepare well for Morrison and it showed. I thought Foreman looked pretty bad vs. Moorer as well until late in the 9th round (KO10). I'm talking about 1991 man!

Foreman fought very well vs. Coetzer, Savarese, and Briggs. I do think a young Foreman beats the crap out of all of these men... I even think a slightly younger Foreman (like the 1991 Foreman who fought Holyfield) beats the crap out of these guys, just not as quickly as the 70's Foreman could have.

You need to quit assuming Holyfield would have fought exactly the same way vs. a younger Foreman. Holyfield was smart and would have had a good fight plan.