I'd say that Young makes Holyfield look awful for 15 rounds, and, though he might lose a controversial decision, Jimmy would negate everything that Evander does well, exepting head butts, of course. Evander was courageous, and did best against aggressive, hard hitting guys who loaded up on their punches, and who gived to take. Young would be starkly different from that type of opponent, and would not have to worry about Holyfield's power for sure.
Interesting matchup, never thought about it before. I think in this one, the cruiserweight Holyfield would do better than the heavyweight version (especially the 212 lb roided up one). He would need a very high workrate which he had when he was lighter and smaller. He won't have to worry much about Young's punching power as he is very defensively minded. Young would do good in going to the body. Another "light" puncher, James Toney, had great success with that. I don't think Holyfield has the power to take Young out, at either weight. He was a bit inexperienced in '87, but i think between '87 and '89 he stands the best chance of winning. The later versions of him may well lose a decision to Young, if the judges get it right. Young was extremely hard to beat at his prime. Holyfield was best against fighters who came at him (unless they were significantly bigger and stronger than him, like Bowe). He loved to counter punch. He was better at leading than for instance Ali, but he would still be out of his "comfortable zone" when doing that. And that is exactly what Young would make him do. Tough fight to call.
Personally i can't see Young beating Holy. Evander will measure his punches too well and realise the pitfalls and dangers.
I appreciate Youngs skills and ability to survive and frustrate his opponents but I think Holyfield would be a bad matchup for Young. Holyfield had great speed, high work rate, put together great combos, had good power, and would not have to worry about Youngs punches. Ali was old when he fought Young, Foreman and Norton were not as fast or skilled. Holy would win a wide decision or late round TKO would be a good possiblility.
Young, too was best against lumbering, big punching aggresive fighters. It may very well have not been the best fight for Jimmy.
THe Holyfield that fought Qawi (the 1st time) would be the one i'd choose to fight Young because of his volume punching .He would have to throw a grip of punches and hope that some connect for the win. Holy by Dec.
Right . Young was a slow footed puncher's worst nightmare. But Holyfield was not slow. He was aggressive and skilled. I think he'd win fairly easy over Young with the caveat that Holyfield was suffering from one of his alleged aliments / excuses that prevented him from doing his best.
While Holyfield is the greater fighter Young is all wrong for him. Holyfield would not be able to outbox Young and I dont see him knocking him out. If the odds on Young were good I would put down a bet.
I think a prime Holyfield would smother most of young's punches, and would give the light hitting Jimmy no respect. Young might win a few of the early rounds, but I could see Evander wearing him down, and stopping him around 9 or 10.
He would be in his element. He would be the trip wire that everybody fell on while not geting the respect. As for whether he could upset Louis???????????????????????
If I had to put money down then, yes, absolutely. Baer would only win if he produced one of his better efforts. Which was not often.
How do yout think young would do against the following fighters? riddick bowe jack sharkey jack dempsey gene tunney floyd patterson nickolai valuev
Bad matchup for Young. A younh Holyfield, say the one that stopped Quawi and Dokes would run roughshod over Young. High volume of punches, speed and chin would be too much for Young. Jimmy did his best work against lumbering HW's such as Foreman and Norton. Against a young strong well conditioned Holyfield who would'nt get tired in the later rounds, Jimmy would be overwhelmed and stopped late in the fight. An older more heavily muscled and slower Holyfield would be a different story however.