Had Holyfield vs Tyson Happened in 1991?

i think tyson was a phenom pre incarceration...a veritable force of nature..there has never been a heavyweight with that aura of malevolence and the speed, power and ferocity to back it up. and, the tyson haters always say he never had the bollocks when he really needed them....but watch the ruddock fights for proof of his courage pre prison..i just cannot see even the intimidating 91 tyson overpowering holyfield...evander had one of the all time great chins and was, simply, a more disciplined fighter. he never had an easy day at the office, even back then, and he knew how to battle back from adversity...and although im a huge tyson fan, i cant see his head keeping him in the game with the relentless pace even this younger, slimmer real deal would innevitbly set after he acclimatized to mikes undoubted power...a different type of pressure than that visited upon him by the bigger, harder hitting (than holyfield) but slower and dare i say lazier ruddock....

mike shakes holy, visibly, several times early...but evander weathers this storm, regroups hits the gas and outworks, outhussles and ultimately outfights a dazed and confused tyson somewher around 8 rounds....

 

The Cooper fight is not relevant here, imo.

Evander went in with Bert with something approaching disdain...certainly he didn't respect Cooper and felt comfortable staying in the pocket and trading with Cooper.
You could just see that Evander didn't want to fight a long fight...he was looking to take Cooper out of there.
I'm sure that feeling was reinforced when Coop went down early from a bodyshot. Evander nearly, nearly paid for that bit of arrogance, but against Tyson he'd have a whole lot more respect and would approach the fight in a totally different way.

Holyfield in '91 wasn't the biggest guy, but his greatest assets were his chin, his willingness to fire back when hurt and his ability to throw punches in bunches. All three would serve him well against a Tyson who though still very formidable, was a guy forsaking some of the qualities that made him so devastating before.

He (Tyson) was definitely more predictable than before and although he punched with the same power as always, he didn't set up his punches properly, preferring to throw big shots in the general direction of his foe rather than work an opening.
Instead of dissecting his opponents, he tried to bludgeon them into submission with pure force...and rarely does that work out, especially against such a talented and tough opponent such as Evander.

Then there is the mental side of things, which sorry to say as a fan of Mike's, is a bit of a mismatch, at least at this point in their careers.
Holyfield could and did overcome adversity, Tyson generally faltered, and I feel at some point in the fight he'd falter.
He was directionless...he didn't pay attention to his corner and relied almost exclusively on his outright physical assets getting the job done. Holyfield had a great corner behind him and would walk into the ring with a sound battle plan.

I can't say with 100% certainty that Holyfield would win, but he'd have a damn good chance.

 

And this is a very important point. Holyfield studied Tyson the way a law student studies a text book. And he'd been doing so for years. He knew Tyson's style, and what he would generally do in a fight, very well.

 

See my avatar to what I think would happen then, too.

 

Mike Tyson would have NEVER beat Evander Holyfield. Holyfield mentally screwed Tyson by not backing down from him and becoming the bully in their 2 fights.

I went to High School with Holyfield's 2 nephews and Evander often came and spoke to us. He told us in 1993 that if he were to ever fight Mike Tyson he would knock him out. And that is EXACTLY what he did. He told us he would win the fight at the staredown that he would be the bully and not Tyson in that fight.

I am ashamed to admit that I did not believe him because I still believed in the myth of Mike Tyson but I remember sitting in front of the TV in 1996 and watching Holyfield bully Tyson all night long. I don't think any version of Tyson ever beats Holyfield who would not back down from Tyson. Mentally Holyfield was just superior.

:good

 

People sometimes place too much vaule into their real fights. You can tell me all you want about Holyfield's courage and hart, but standing front of Tyson in 1991 would only end in one result a ko win for Tyson.

 

all that bully mentality crap is overrated. holyfield had the style to expose technically flawed tyson in 96. had they fought in 1991, if holyfield utilizing the same startegy, he beats him again too because tyson was still head hunting and poor defesively in 91'. the only version of tyson thats beats holyfield is 88' with rooney.

 

Close match. But my vote is for Holy.

Sure, Tyson can't be discounted entirely, but I think that Holy has the upper hand here.

My impression is that people on Tyson's side are making a wrong assumption: an overeager Holy playing right into Tyson's hands and naively falling for a slugfest, precisely the kind of fight best suited for a headhunter.

I don’t think that would have been Holy’s behaviour in 1991. As previous posters have mentioned Holyfield was well aware of how Tyson fought, and Holy was too smart of a boxer to fall for it.

On the other hand, post-Rooney Tyson was –I dare to say- already going downhill. No more hunger. No more planning. No more peek-a-boo. No more jab setting. I can’t see that version of Tyson defeating Holy :think

 

holyfield had too much respect for tyson. cooper and bowe hurt holyfield badly in large part because he was too eager too exhcange. tyson could do even more damamge to holyfield then those two. and tyson was still technically unsound. which is why the buster douglas disaster happened and why he struggled with razor ruddock in two fights.

 

I am both a fan of Tyson and Holyfield. I think 91 Tyson was still somehow in his prime (although in a decline ...) and Holyfield was not the fighter he became later on after the Bowe fights. He was not that strong and would go slug it out which would lead to a war with then still hungry for redemption Tyson. I see it as a late round Tyson KO or Tyson by a unanimous decision. still it would be one of the greatest fights of the decade no doubt and Holyfield could pull a victory also. i'd give it 60-40 for Tyson on this one.