Holyfield's best fight as heavyweight: Foreman?

I think the Holyfield v Dokes fight was indeed voted by Ring (When it was still a credible magazine) as heavyweight fight of the decade.

 

Dokes and Thomas were impressive. The Douglas win is overlooked now too, but he was razor sharp in that 1. Tyson 1 was an incredible performance too

 

1) Tyson #1
2) Douglas
3) Moorer #2
4) Tyson #2
5) Bowe #2
6) Bowe #1
7) Dokes
8) Tillis
9) Moorer #1
10) Thomas
11) Foreman
12) Holmes

something like this

 

I disagree. His performance against a game old version of George Foreman was,what can best be described as,workmanlike.

In my mind,'The Real Deal's best fight as a heavy was his second one with Riddick Bowe. Turning the tables on a guy who'd previously beaten him convincingly.

 

From my viewpoint, I think he made the Foreman fight harder than it needed to be by working aggressively for the knockout at points instead of sticking to his tight boxing, got winded and clubbed a few times for his trouble, made the fight look more competitive than it really was. He was under lots of pressure from the media to be more exciting and put these guys away and that probably effected his performance, or just Evander being Evander I suppose.

Bell to Bell, Tyson I was his smartest and best executed fight I think.

 

Dokes' last stand as a decent fighter.

 

This is absolutely true.

The Foreman fight was FAR from a disciplined, tight effort from Evander. He was hyperactive and uncontrolled, he neglected using his jab for long periods, and he circled the wrong direction all night. He got hit hard several times because he was standing right in front of George; He's lucky he did not have Moorer's chin issues, or he would have indeed been stopped.

The Foreman fight is a good win, a well fought win, but far from brilliant.

Tyson I and Bowe II are brilliant.

 

this is his smartest effort. tyson SHOULD have won but he had weaknesses to be exploited. bowe had previously won and had so many advantages that a victory for holyfield (a natural brawler) is massive

 

Don't think Tyson should have won.

Tyson, after prison, was simply an inferior fighter. Inferior boxer, less heart, all of it.

He was, however, still a physical monster. Holyfield beating him up and manhandling him is tremendously impressive. Tyson was a brick house, rarely the weaker man in the ring.

I'd agree with what you said about Bowe II. Reversing the first fight with such a tight performance is tremendous.

 

I disagree.

It wasn't his best win, nor was it even his best performance. Every time I watch that fight I can't help but think that Evander managed to find the hardest way to make an easy living; he made George Foreman look dangerous, when he had the skill set, speed and stamina to make him look old.

 

Bowe came in pretty bad shape for the rematch, and still nearly edged it by finishing strong. Maybe Fan Man had something to do with it, hard to say. I think Evander boxed smart at points but not nearly as discplined as the Tyson effort.

 

Did you ever have the chance to spar with Tyson?

I watched him spar pre-prison. God damn, he scared the crap out of me 20 feet from the ring.

 

This fight wasn't even close. Foreman might have won one round if you were being generous, even though one blind-mouse judge had the fight 115-112. I thought Holyfield fought a good tactical fight against George, moving in and out, firing three and four punch combinations, and countering George's slow counters. And although it rarely gets mentioned, Holyfield almost ended the fight at the end of the third round; had there been 30 seconds left in the round, Foreman might not have made it out of the round! He was teetering and his legs were going opposite of his upper body!

 

Which fight was Mike sparring for, who against, & how sharp did he look?

 

Tyson fight one or Bowe 2 with the help of fanman to help Evander get his second wind. But a great performance. Evander had many. The guy is a legit great.