How good was Tyson in 96

I just don't think he trained as hard as Evander, Holyfield wanted this fight for his entire life. Right from the start, you could already tell something was off with Tyson.

 

That's true. He had just come out of retirement after a very dangerous life threatening heart disease. While I do think Tyson was past it, Holyfield wasn't exactly the 30 year old who beat Bowe three years earlier.

 

In 1996, Mike Tyson was considered the best heavyweight in the world.

When the Holyfield fight was announced immediately following the win over Seldon (at the postfight press conference for Tyson-Seldon), everyone I was in the room with groaned. Nobody was looking forward to seeing Tyson destroy Holyfield.

Holyfield was coming off a rough fight with Mercer, a knockout loss to Bowe and he looked ordinary against Czyz.

Lennox Lewis only fought once that year against Mercer, and you can argue whether he won that. It was a great fight. But Lewis barely edged him.

Ray Mercer had looked good against Holyfield and Lewis, so he was right up there.

Rid**** Bowe got owned in two fights by Andrew Golota. After the first Golota fight, I remember how everyone was excited about Golota, and they thought he had a great future.

After the rematch with Bowe, people talked about what an idiot Golota was but many felt he was one of the best active heavyweights - maybe even the best. Even though he'd beaten Holyfield, Bowe was already coming apart. There was a post-fight interview with Bowe on ESPN after he stopped Holyfield, and you couldn't understand a word Bowe was saying, his words were so slurred.

Golota had ruined whatever was left of Bowe. And people thought Bowe had ruined whatever was left of Holyfield.

That's why Lennox Lewis' win over Golota was so impressive at the time. Many thought Golota could be the next heavyweight king (with everyone else getting older).

And that's why Holyfield's win was so impressive. Because he appeared to be done himself. He didn't beat a Tyson going in who people thought was weak or slipping. That's why Tyson opened as a huge betting favorite. People wagered on Holyfield because they got such long odds. Not because they actually thought he'd win.

It was an epic upset.

 

Doesn't mean anything, Holyfield wanted the fight because Tyson was the best fighter at the time.

 

yeah but only because he had been.

 

Who was then at that point? Bowe? Lewis?

 

Right. But nobody else around was proving they were better.

Lewis barely edged Mercer. Bowe knocked out Holyfield but was getting owned by Golota, but Golota wasn't bright enough to actually win. Mercer kept losing by a thread (to Holyfield and Lewis).

Tyson was the only one who was rolling along.

 

This thread exist to "take away" from Holyfield's win over Tyson.

Anyway, I'll take the bait.

Neither man was at his very best but both were still very good.

Going into the fight Tyson had won his last 8 fights, 6 by KO (1990-1996). He had a long layoff (1991-1995), a little over 4 years... but keep in mind that he was scheduled to fight Holyfield in the spring of '92 and came back in the summer of '95. His layoff was more like 3 years... he was an active fighter when he went to prison, he planned on coming back the entire time, he was an active fighter as soon as he got out.

He beat Tillman KO1, Stewart KO1, Ruddock KO7 and W12, and was supposed to fight Holyfield in '92 (originally 1990 and then 1991).

When he came back in '95 he beat McNeeley WDQ1 and Mathis KO3. In '96 he beat Bruno KO3 and Seldon KO1. Not the best list of HWs ever but in these fights he won the WBC and WBA HW World Titles and he looked impressive. He gave up the WBC belt (which Lewis regained by beating McCall in a rematch).


During this same stretch Holyfield had beat McDonagh KO4, Douglas KO3 (winning the HW World Title), Foreman W12, Cooper KO7, and Holmes W12 before losing to Bowe (W12) at the age of 30 (1992).

He came back with Manny Steward in his corner and beat Stewart W12 and Bowe W12. He probably should have retired but fought on (without Steward in his corner) and lost the HW Title to Michael Moorer by close decision. He had dropped Moorer early but really looked like shlt in this fight, a case can still be made that he should have won though. Holyfield retired (remember the heart problem?) after this fight.

He came back 13 months later and beat Ray Mercer by decision. He was the first man to drop Mercer but didn't look great in this fight. He fought Bowe for the 3rd time in November of '95. He looked like shlt again but managed to drop Bowe in the 6th round and almost had him out. With plenty of time left in the round, Holyfield still couldn't put Bowe away and was eventually stopped in the 8th round. He beat Bobby Czyz in the spring of '96. Sure, beating Czyz was easy but it was just Bobby Czyz (TKO5). Holyfield was 9-3 (4) since Tyson's loss to Douglas.

More importantly Holyfield was only on a 1 fight winning streak when he fought Tyson. He had beat Czyz, KO5. Prior to Czyz he lost to Bowe, LKOby8 and looked like a washed up fighter. Prior to Bowe he beat Mercer but took more punishment than he should have (oh, but he dropped Mercer!), prior to Mercer he was retired, prior to being retired he wasn't allowed to fight because of his health, prior to that he looked like shlt vs. Moorer.

Tyson opened as a 25-1 favorite but by fight time the odds were 6-1 (more realistic). Donald Trump actually put a million on Holyfield at 20-1.

Holyfield was well prepared, he rose to the occasion and knew exactly what he had to do to win. He just had to get there mentally and physically. He had been ready for this day for a long time... but don't be fooled, this was not a prime Holyfield... just a very well prepared Holyfield. I think he was at his best in the 2nd fight with Bowe... he had started to fade but Steward got him where he needed to be to regain the title, then he faded again. The Tyson fight got him motivated again but like I said, he was past his best years.

 

Bowe was considered the best fighter at the time. Well, after he beat Holyfield in their 3rd fight. Then when Tyson started collecting belts the media, as did I, assumed he was back to peak form. He wasn't.

 

Ali fought Quarry (KO3) and Bonavena KO15 prior to Frazier. He had a 3 1/2 year layoff and was uncertain when he'd fight again. When he fought Folley in '67 he knew it was going to be his last fight for a long time.

Tyson beat Ruddock for a 2nd time in the summer of '91, he was supposed to fight Holyfield on November 8, 1991 (my 17th birthday). the fight was rescheduled for the spring of '92 after an injury by Tyson forced the fight to be postponed. He knew as soon as he got out of prison he had a career to resume... and he did that in the summer of '95.

Tyson should have been fresher than Ali was when he came back.

Tyson went 4-0 (3) overall and 2-0 (2) in HW world title fights prior to fighting Holyfield.

Let it go people, Tyson got his A5S kicked! If he wasn't prepared that's his problem. It's easy to say that when any fighter loses though.

 

I know. But two past its doesn't make a prime.