If you watch the first Tyson Holyfiled fight, Evander was fading big time in the later rounds. At one point he looked over at Brooks and you could see how fatigued he really was. It was Brooks words of inspiration that in my opinion lifted Evander to that victory. This was a fight with not a lot of punches thrown. It was a lot of wrestling and grappling more than anything. Tyson had fought a total of 6 professional rounds, hardly enough to be prepared for what version of Holyfield showed up that night. Go back to 91, and although Rooney was gone, Tyson had a few fights under Richie Giachetti who was getting him back to doing some things right. Tyson was more prepared to fight 12 rounds and still could put some punches together. It was a fact that Holyfield was going to brawl with him at that time. Duva and Benton didnt know to teach him any other way than being a good boxer puncher, and when it got rough his emotions turned him into a slugger. Maybe Holyfield had no respect for Bert Cooper and thats why he got careless, but if that was Tyson in that fight Holyfield wouldnt have gotten up. It was Tommy Brooks who devised the plan to hold and fatigue Tyson. It was Brooks idea to bring in Gary Bell and David Tua to swarm Holyfield, and Holyfield for the first week was getting his ass kicked in the gym in sparring. Slowly Evander adjusted to how to deal with the power and pressure under Tommy's guidance. Brooks knew Holyfield couldnt trade with Tyson and he knew Holyfield would have a tough time boxing and moving for 12 rounds, so he wanted him to tie Tyson up on the inside get him moving backwards, and use that time to rest. Brooks is really a good good thinking trainer Don Turner is not, and Brooks was the man in the Tyson fight. I dont think Evander Holyfield in 91 has the right gameplan or the power to beat Tyson, although the fight is competitive until Tyson lands the knockout blow in the mid to late rounds.
gotta go with hoyfield. tyson had abadoned his skills by then b ut holyfield did like to trad to much back then so that could be is undoing. the 88' version of tyson with rooney would beat holyfield but the 91' version was still too much of a headhuter.
Tough one to call this. Tyson's skills had started to degrade and it is obvious from the Bruno and Both Ruddock fights that he moved his head a lot less, one thing Tyson was still doing in 1991 (although not as much as a 86-89 version) was punching in bunches, the KO of Bruno was classic Tyson (although he did have to think about it for a bit). Holyfield was obviously smaller and was prone to getting into a brawl, but he still had the brilliant heart and chin that is essential to beat an on form Tyson. Another thing to take into consideration is Tyson's corner, if this fight got tough and Tyson started losing rounds i don't think his corner could give him the advice or reassurance he would need. Holyfield however will not be able to push Tyson back as he did in the other fights and if he gets caught into a brawl i think Tyson would be too quick. Its a tough one to call but I'm leaning towards Tyson.
Tyson was declining mentally and the Don King circus was in full swing. He was still the most dangerous heavyweight in the country and he takes Holyfield by late KO or UD.
Yeah, because it's not like EVERYONE on the planet said the exact same thing in '96. :roll: Some people will stop at nothing too rewrite history.
Even more than that, I think. I believe the odds were around 6-1 or 7-1 at fight time, after opening somewhere around 22-1.
I don't think it's right to extrapolate the result of a Tyson-Holyfield fight in 1991,based on how their relative strengths in 1996. Besides a performance on a night is dependent on many external things other than how far a fighter is from his prime such as pre-fight preparation, a solid gameplan, a good corner.... BTW I think Mike was still a specimen in 1996 . He still had his incredible power,but was one dimensional and not capable of adapting his gameplan.
Not according to the Duvas, when they split from Holyfield. I think there was a lot of sour grapes over the split, because Lou in particular made a point of telling everyone that they had to bully Evander to get him to train sometimes, and that often he didn't pitch up to train at all. It's a lot of rubbish if you ask me.
If Buster Douglas could whoop Mike up around this time period, I have no doubt that Holyfield could do the same.
I'm pretty sure it was 6-1...I have it written down somewhere but not here, but I think it was 6-1. Still long odds. And I think most of the punters were more in hope and a dislike of Tyson than solid belief. Aka the Ron Borges Method
Holyfield was a dead man going into that fight. Coming off the performance to Bobby Czyz, noone thought he had a chance. Im sure the odds were pretty steep in Tysons favor. I do remember asking Riddick Bowe what he thought, and he said Tyson looked so horrible in previous fights, with his mixed up footwork, and bad balance, he was sure Holyfield would kick his ass, and he wanted to fight Tyson.