Holyfield-Tyson 1

It was as much biased towards Tyson as it was simply the general perception of Tyson being invincible, not to mention THE superstar, which he was. But a lot of Tyson fans try to re-write history and pretend that everyone considered him to be shot, the underdog, etc. I think the 22-1 favorite odds speak for themselves, as well as the ferocity in which he destroyed Bruno faster than he did before.

 

Even though Bruno was substantially bigger, stiffer, slower and barely made it to the end of the fight with Oliver Mcall? His cornerman literally had to carry him back to the corner in the closing rounds he was so exhausted.
Czyz hated Holyfield because he felt Holyfield put something on his gloves that got into his eyes. He was also a monumental Tyson ass kisser. Listening to him talk about Tyson made you want to put your finger down your throat.
As far as the fight, when Holyfield didnt budge from the huge righthand Tyson landed at the opening bell, everyone in his corner including him must have said, oh sh*t!

 

Ferdio Pacheco was being fair I thought.

 

yea, at the time the concensus could hardly have been 'tyson is shot' considering so many people tipped him to beat lewis when they fought years later

 

Barely making it to the end of his fight against McCall is better than not making it to the end of his fights against Bonecrusher Smith and Tim Witherspoon. That was the only time he went 12 rounds and survived to the final bell.

Tyson did look quite impressive previous to his fight against Holyfield, in fact Tyson himself said in the recent documentary that he was training hard for every comeback fight until slacking off in the training for the Holyfield bout.

Holyfield on the other hand looked far from impressive against Bobby Czyz.

 

One of Howard Stern's sponsors in 1996 was an off shore gambling company. I tried to place a $100usd bet on Holyfield, but was unable because I was only 19 years old. $100 was a big bet for me back then. In fact, it still is.

My logic wasn't stylistic. I knew that Tyson had not been past 3 rounds with a fighter willing to fight back in over 5 years. I thought Tyson would have to beat Holyfield in 5 rounds or less to win, and didn't think he could stop Evander in 5. So I ended up winning $5 and two packs of cigarettes on this fight.

I was really impressed by reading about Don Turner's strategy for the fight, which was published afterward. Emmanuel Steward had previously trained Evander, and stated that getting Holyfield to take weight off his front foot was the first major change he made. Steward also helped Holyfield get a little more out of his shots. Don Turner took this technically improved Holyfield, and devised a great game plan for Tyson.

Turner was concerned about Tyson's left hook. Most conventional fighters line up with their lead food centered between their opponent's legs. Turner wanted Holyfield to attempt to line his rear leg between Tyson's, taking a good bite out of Tyson's left hook. This stance does line you up for the right hand, as Holyfield found out in the first moments of the fight.

Another thing Turner noticed is that Tyson does not waste energy wrestling in the clinch. Turner knew that if Evander pressed Mike in the clinch, Tyson would have to push threw Evander's weight to deliver a shot and take a lot of steam of those punches.

 

That's a lot better than not making it to the end at all, which is what Bruno was doing in his big fights around the time he first fought Tyson.

 

Tyson was only shot after Holyfield handed him his ass.

 

I for one think that no version of Mike Tyson beats a prime Evander Holyfield. Always have felt that way. I also think a prime Bowe and prime Lewis beat a prime Tyson as well.

 

A prime Tyson's mental strength would be tested to the core against Holyfield. And I don't think Holyfield was in his prime either when he beat Tyson. Holyfield would always have beaten him. I agree. Tyson was great in his prime but wasn't invincible. People forget the mental aspect and tend to remember him for his quick knockout wins over Berbick, Holmes and Spinks, etc. Put him in with a Holyfield who had a superb chin, a tremendous heart as well as some polished skills and durablity over 12 rounds and he has problems.

 

Same here.

Agreed on Lewis, but I don't know about Bowe.

If/how Bowe can handle Tyson depends on how he's able to withstand a puncher as big as him, especially in the early rounds. We never really saw Bowe against a one-shot KO artist to judge him in that regard. But if it did turn out he could indeed handle Tyson's power, then I think his inside technical skills would pose a big problem for him.

 

I think Bowe could make it a tough fought for the rounds it went, but Tyson would wear him down. It would look similiar to the Ruddock fight, except Bowe would be moving and using the jab a tad bit more. Bowe is just too porous and open to be hit to beat Tyson. He really has to will himself to it. He can bully Holy like this but not Tyson.

I agree with everyone in regards to prime Holyfield vs Tyson.

Lewis vs Tyson would be interesting one to watch. That's a tough one to pick.

 

well, tyson was shot when he fought holyfield, but you cant act like he was at his best either. did any see the buster mathis fight? look how sloppy tyson looked. holyfield knew he could exploit tyson weaknesses u like guys like bruno, mcneely, seldon and mathis. tyson was the heavy favortie in large part because holyfield had been koed alreayd by bowe. tyson had thought to be an even more devestating offensive fighter then bowe, and punchers traditionally get overrated.