Holyfield had a great career. I feel he was at his very best as a heavyweight from the time he entered the division to the time he beat Bowe in there second fight. After that he looked lackluster losing to Moorer. Then a new look Holyfield showed up and looked pretty good beating Ray Mercer in a good fight and again was lackluster losing in his rematch with Bowe. He had a resurgence though beating Tyson and taking his belt. Then beating Moorer and holding his own with Lewis in his prime. After that it was pretty much downhill. How good do you guys feel Holyfield was later in his career from after he lost to Moorer on? Was he still a great fighter? What happened in his fights with Moorer and his third fight with Bowe where he looked so lackluster? Was his win over Tyson a great win or just beating a washed up fighter? Did Lewis beat a great in Holyfield or was he done already when he fought Lewis? Could Holyfield at the time he beat Tyson have still beat other great fighters? Would like to hear some opinions and more thoughts on Holyfield later in his career? From the Ruiz fights on there isn't much to talk about I'm focusing more on from after his second fight with Bowe and second reign as champ where he noticeable changed and did slow but still had what it took to again regain his championship onwards.
Yes he was juicing (who wasn't?) but Holyfield was so dedicated, gifted and tenacious that he was able to fight on for 14-15 years PAST his prime yet remain highly competitive and dignified at the elite level, even against opposition like prime Lewis.
I'm as big Holyfield's fan as you can find so I've watched all of his fights during this period (94 to 99) He looked past it vs Moorer, not terrible of course but not at his best too. It was discovered he had injured his shoulder and also had some heart problems during the fight, maybe that was the reason? Against Mercer, he did look pretty good, I think he comfortably won and was the 1st man to KD iron-chinned Ray. But Mercer won few rounds and was very competitive. Then the Bowe fight (3rd) - Holy looked good only in round 6 when he dropped Bowe for the 1st time in his career. Other than that, he was taking a beating, and Foreman yelled at the referee to stop the beating as early as 4th or 5th round. Aside from KD, Holyfield looked shot in that fight. Same with Czyz fight, Holy had problems figuring out past-prime former LHW/CW champion. He looked well past it. Then somehow Holy looked much better in both Tyson fights and Moorer 2. Surely he lost some speed and it was obvious, but his stamina, power and timing was there. In his fight vs unheralded Vaughn Bean Holyfield looked like he lost a step, Bean won 4 rounds and was competitive. Then the 1st Lewis fight where Holy looked old and shot, only his iron chin saved him from being stopped by Lennox in a fight he clearly lost (but got a draw). In the rematch we saw much better Holy, who was very competitive and gave Lewis all he could handle, but that was his last hurrah. After that in the three Ruiz fights it was obvious that Holyfield is shot fighter whose speed, reflexes, stamina and timing are gone. I think Holyfield's peak ended in 1993 in the fight vs Bowe 2. After that he scored some big wins of his career while being past his prime (Tyson, Moorer, Mercer) and knocked down Bowe, Mercer , Tyson. I grade him as Past prime 94 to 97 Well past prime 98 to 99 Shot 2000-2002 Totally shot 2003 till 2011 (took a beating from Toney and was dominated by freaking Larry Donald). Funnily, even at the latest stage of his career Holy was often competitive against highly rated fighters.
