Holyfield-Bowe II - 'Fanman' influence !

I don't think it influenced the result at all.

They both had to deal with it.

The true story of the fight is Holyfield was in great shape, bigger and stronger than in the first fight, and boxed smarter than the first fight.
Bowe was not in his best shape and probably trained to meet a lesser version of Holyfield, not a better one.

 

I know that guy was a total moron for doing what he did, but to this day I still laugh about that incident. It was a classic moment in boxing history... Incidentally, Evander has been involved in some pretty crazy fights, getting his ear bitten off, having a parchuted man landing in the middle of one of his fights, etc...

 

Should this perhaps be accounted for in the H2H thread?

 

Yes it disrupted Bowe who was getting to Holyfield at the point it was stopped. It allowed Holyfield to rest. Also Bowe wasnt covered up as quickly as Holyfield so he got a little tight during the wait and I think it took momentum away from Bowe and gave it back to Holyfield.

The fight was razor close I believe had fan man not appeared Bowe would have retained his titles.

 

I think bowe was getting tired about the time fan man apeared, bowe was saved by the bell in round 5 and was losing his mojo. In round 6 Bowe was sloppy and getting beaten to the punch. Round 7 Bowe set off a bit faster at the start of the round but he was never going to keep that up, Holyfeild had Bowe in way more trouble earlier. Bowe's work had been reduced to spurts he was losing the fight on the outside and getting tired. Holyfeild was always apt to let a man back into a fight ala bert cooper but I think evander was in no danger of losing, Ruddock was only going to fade even more - the rest helped the big man.

 

I guess you and I were watching different fights. Of course he was in danger of losing the fight was close all the way and Evander won by MD one point ahead one one card, two on another and a draw on the third.

 

huge difference. It broke up the action and gave Holyfield a lot of time to recover. It was like Holyfield had to fight two shorter fights that day, instead of one long one. 7 round fight and a 5 round fight. So he didn't need as much stamina in the end. I thought fanman made all the difference. Evander did fight better in the second fight, but still the fanman helped him focus on his fightplan and not have to worry about getting tired.

 

I think Holyfield benefitted more from Fanman. He shocked Bowe in the 5th but Bowe came back at the end of the 6th and dominated the 7th before the bizarre occurred. Bowe's wife also fainted and I remember Lampley and the commentators making a big deal out of it.

I was pulling for Holy in the rematch since I was disgusted with Bowe for facing Dokes and Ferguson. He sat on the title a little bit. Mercer would have been a better opponent but The Boogieman changed all that.

 

I thought Holyfield was beating Bowe in the first half of the fight, so I cannot agree with you who are saying it benefitted him more than Bowe.

If was only about 20 seconds prior to the Fan-man incident that Bowe was establishing himself, but knowing what we know about Holyfield's style of fighting maybe that means Bowe was saved from the inevitable Holyfield response. It was Holyfield's trademark to take 20 or 30 seconds of incoming pressure then responding in his full competitive rage for the next 30 or 40 seconds.
If you look at the fight, Holyfield was doing well in the 5th and 6th rounds, it was Bowe who seemed to tire in every round.

 

This is how I see it. :good

If the 20minute break benefited one of them unequally, it was the tiring Bowe, who needed a rest far more than the supremely conditioned Holy. Also, your point about how Holy likes to take punishment, then come back stronger is a good one.

 

I think it hurt both.

Bowe was losing, and was behind; He got a rest, and got to clear his head, but his opponent got the same benefit, and it broke up a comeback round for him.

Holyfield was winning and got the chance for a breather so repeating his success would be a bit easier on the gas tank, but the only fighter who had been hurt so far was Bowe, and all the damage Holyfield might have been accumulating is a wash after a break that long.

 

Yes, I think that 20 minute delay gave Holy time to catch his wind, which, with all the footwork and speedy combos he was doing, would wane over time against the consistent power and pressure of Bowe. One round swing in that fight would have made a big difference.

 

In normal cases its a lot more work for for the smaller presure fighter to take it to the big man, but until fan man the big man was losing gas fast, was beaten to the punch in each exchange in the last 3 rounds. bowe could only hope to make an enough impresion in 30 seconds to win a 3 min round, he was far too gasssed to do anything else. That 30 seconds was likely to dwindle to about 20 seconds until he was on empty. No way was bowe going to take over with 20 seconds of work per round so IMO the break gave him a frash chance way more than evander.