Holyfield ist badly underrated at HW

Obviously the PEDs issue is raised a lot re Holyfield, but just like Lance Armstrong he was the best amongst an entire generation of dopers. Regardless of Evan Fields being roided to the eyeballs, the 90’s was a level playing field. Testosterone, HGH and EPO etc are not magic drugs that you take and become superhuman, Holyfield still put in the thousands of brutal hours training to get where he was and like I said before, he lived the fighters life.

 

Some of the guys certainly didn't have very impressive physiques. If Bowe was on roids why wasn't it reflected in his build?

 

Holyfield is in my top ten favorite fighters to watch ever...but don’t have him in my top ten. Between the steroids and several bad losses (doesn’t matter if he was injured he took the fight) I have to place him in the 10-15 range.

 

The more I look at top-10/top-20 ratings of boxers, the more I think the lines are too fine for a couple of placements, higher or lower, to make a whole lot of difference.

Holyfield is a fan favorite, for sure; a crowd-pleaser and great to watch. I don't do a lot of rating lists and those I do compile are likely to change, from one point to the next.

I probably don't have Holyfield in my top-10, today - But, he might be there, on a different day.

 

Povetkin and Fury have been caught doing PEDs without having ripped bodies. There are probably more examples of this.

Not saying Bowe was on roids, just that body type isn't always indicative.

 

Yeah just because you're on gear doesn't make you look like an Adonis. There are many many different compounds and combinations of compounds which have different effects. There are ones that put on mass and weight, which you have to be careful of because if you aren't disciplined in your diet, you'll get fat. You'll be strong as a bull, but a fat bull.

You can most certainly be on gear without being chiseled.

You still need a good diet, put in the work, and have good genetics to look like a freak as Holyfield did.

Holyfield would have looked like that with or without the chemical help. He's a freak.

 

Nevada couldn't even produce a positive test until 2002. Yes, Evander was juiced, but I think it's naive to think it wasnt widespread at that point. He was a product of his era, which was the perfect intersection of chemical technology, availability, and lack of testing.

We'll never know exactly who was clean and who wasn't. My personal stance is we'd have a more accurate list putting the asterisk to the era and acknowledging the cost of doing business than singling out Evander as though he were the exception.

 

Povetkin's body noticeably improved at some point in his 30s.

 

Everyone was doing it.

Evander is great. I don't know who's underrating him.

 

There are several knowns from that era though. Holyfield, Briggs (failed test in 2017), Botha, and Morrison definitely were users.

Tyson cheated on urine tests but claims it was because he was using illicit drugs.

 

If there were no signs of deterioration in Bowe then tell me why Eddie Futch his trainer walked away from him before his last fight with Golota?

 

I rank Holyfield #5 all-time at Heavyweight. His lack of a dominant reign is what keeps him from the Mount Rushmore of Ali, Louis, Holmes and Lewis but his character and skill was tested (and passed) on more than a couple of occasions.

 

He's the only HW during the 90's who fought EVERYONE who was worth fighting, some wins, some losses but unlike Tyson, Bowe and Lewis who have a lot of missing names on their CV from that period, Holy doesn't.

 

I think we have here a case of him being overrated. He certainly wasn't seen as being this good during his career.

 

I personally don't think its that amazing. His skill level was just superior , and if he fought more with his head (but not using it as a weapon lol) then with his heart and ego, he probably does much better against the so called "Super Heavyweights".