Holyfield vs . Liston

Immediately I was leaning towards Liston but thinking about it, I think Holy takes a decision.

However, I think in terms of overall punishment, Holy would take more.

 

So, basically your penalising Liston for not being in more wars when in his pomp. He took enough leather off Williams and came back strongly immediately. The man could whack, so real wars were kept to a minimum.

Bowe won handily enough though.

Tommy Hearns never heard the bell much in a losing effort either.

Great fight it was. Still, Bowe was the winner all the way. Throughout the fight the feeling was that Evander was hanging in there with the better man. He deserves great credit for the rematch when, for me, he finally established himself as a great heavyweight but let's not act like the first encounter was close. It was competitive but a clear win for Bowe.

You're really leaving him a lot of scope here.

Poor performace by Holyfield when all's said and done. He looked a real paper champion that night. In fact, he didn't convince as a great heavyweight until Bowe II.

Foreman's great chin and courage kept him in there. Larry Holmes' safety first performance was a bit different from a Tyson wanting to trade and was very 'Joe Bugner-lite'. Bugner would have went the distance with Holyfield too.

I think so too.

This is a good point. Evander could outwork Liston and take him into a war of attrition, but there's nothing wrong with picking Liston early. Evander looked vulnerable at times when he was in his prime years. The reason he was involved in so many wars was because he instigated them of course but didn't have the power to end them early enough.

 

i take sonny to win by whatever route,if the the opportunity arises he'll finish it early ,if not ,points.steroids or not ,holyfield is out of his depth.
he certainly doesn't punch hard enough,nor box well enough to trouble sonny.:thumbsup

 

Liston, big.

Every good jabber Evander fought gave him problems and he just gets hit too much. This opponent is no different and has a better jab than any of the jabbers Holyfield fought. You add in that great left hook off the jab and a big right hand and nasty right uppercut and I just don't see the Holyfield defense being any sort of problem for Liston to solve.

 

I like Holyfield here.He would impose his will on Liston,get his shots off first and take him down the stretch to a points win.

 

When did that ever happen to Liston though ?

 

Again, I do not see Liston getting the iron chinned, faster Holyfield early. Not when Tyson and Lewis could not ... then I really don't see Liston winning a long, drawn out war with Evander. I never saw Liston in one against anyone. Holyfield fought the better fighters and has proven beyond doubt he can hang in with almost anyone.

 

But, the reason you didn't see him in a long, drawn out war was that he tended to flatten the other guy before he had an opportunity to start one.

 

I would take Sonny for a win,he had a lot tools to work with, great jab,great left hook,and good uppercutting skill.Evander,wasn't no piece of cake,just think Sonny's reach,and jab,might frustrate Evander to do something foolish.It happens sometimes.

 

Liston, by hard-fought, close decision. I'd say he is too complete a fighter for someone of Holyfield's particular skill-set to exploit weaknesses in. And there is nothing wrong with Sonny's ticker in a war.

BUT, the wild card could be this: did Liston ever come back to win in a fight he was losing? If Holy finds a winning formula, it could be the first Tyson fight all over again.

 

Liston UD. Liston really doesn't have a significant size edge in this one but his jab would make it so Holy would be hard pressed to win it by moving and picking his punches, and Liston's power edge would make it suicide to stand and trade with him.

Holyfield would probably respect his power and elect to try to win by his own movement and jab and in the process be outpointed. If he stood and traded it would likely be a short night. He wouldn't be able to rough up and tire out Liston like he did with a 96 Tyson either, Liston was too strong and was better conditioned.

Holyfield's best chance would be to fight a bit spoilerish, concentrate on not getting hit first of all and use angles, and get dirty as hell with Liston to get him frustrated. If he ships Liston a few headbutts like he did with Tyson, Liston may retaliate by hitting low like against Machen and getting penalized or worse and/or not fighting his fight. Liston wasn't a dummy though.