Joe Frazier 1971 vs Evander Holyfield 1991

Frazier wins a brutal fight.

Holyfield, especially in 1991, wasn't hard to suck into a brawl. Holyfield said he learned from the Bowe fights to be more controlled, and he was definitely more controlled against Tyson than he had been earlier. He did a good job at adjusting so he would age well. He got bigger and stronger and picked his spots well, tying Tyson up a lot and disrupting his rhythm, choosing the right moments to get in the exchanges.

Holyfield was somewhat vulnerable to the body and it sort of gets overlooked or unnoticed. Foreman momentarily doubled him over with left hooks to the body, I think round 5. Bowe repeatedly hurt him to the body. Lewis hurt him with a left hook to the body in the 5th round of the first fight (the round Eugenia Williams gave to Holyfield and blamed it on the angle from her seat). Lewis also hurt him with a right uppercut to the head but the bodyshot was the one that had Holyfield reeling back and had that look of pain on his face.

Moorer seemed to hurt him with a
body shot, but it was at the end of the round, and Moorer was fighting with all the urgency of someone who had just smoked 2 joints and popped 2 mg of klonopin. I think he was also worried about Holyfield's counterpunching and ability to rally when he seemed to be hurt, it's what happened in the knockdown in the 2nd round. Eventually Toney stopped Holyfield to the body, although Holyfield was an old man by then.

Holyfield's recuperative powers and heart usually got him through those tough moments when he was hurt to the body, but in this case, Frazier is going to be relentless and constantly attacking it. Eventually Holyfield would weaken from the attack and it would be costly.

Holyfield would catch Frazier a lot coming in, and it would be a brutal two way fight. Sort of like the FOTC.

Although I pick Frazier, I think his face would be looking like it was after the FOTC or Manila.

 

Frazier takes over this fight by the 5th. He has Holy battered and beaten by the 12th if its 15 he stops him.
Holy is really getting mythical status here at this point.

 

This would have been a war. Fraziers head movement nullifies the Holy jab. I don't see Joe having issues getting in close. Holys right would he his best weapon as well as a counter hook. Thing is if we are looking at the best Frazier he was a machine in the ring very difficult to dominate unless the opponent hit very hard.

The bout starts off typical of Fraziers bouts as he loses the first 2-3 rounds. Frazier then comes on strong and Holy responds by going toe to toe. Joe pounds Holys body with both hands. Close rounds but Joe takes most of them. It's an even out going into the last five rounds where Joe takes over. A hook from nowhere puts Holy down in round 13 and arising on shaky legs the ref stops the bout.

 

Hes top 10 in most boxing fans atg list at Heavy. That status is earned. Monster of a fighter imo

 

My 2 favourite heavys ever ! Their mentality was top of the food chain ****. That's why neither are the same again after the encounter..Really really hard fight for both..Mercy stoppage and called a draw if its 15 rounds lol

 

He still doesnt beat Frazier

 

I am as big of a Frazier fan (and a Holyfield appreciator) as there is. However I think people are going to far by saying Frazier stops him early, or Holy gets alligator arms after 3 rounds.

I think this is real close to a 50/50 fight, based on both overall evaluation of them and their respective styles.

I do think Frazier would edge this, but I could see either guy winning. I don't see either guy stopping the other, especially not the few early ones.

 

I'm going with Evander on this one. Better chin, better two-fisted puncher, equal endurance, equal toughness, equal warrior spirit. Evander would win in a war of attrition, imo.

 

Holy takes this in my book. Just more tools to get the job done. Frazier could obviously win, and especially this version, but I think Holy would fight smart and win

 

Bowe was always a nightmare matchup for Holyfield because of his length, workrate, and in-fighting ability, regardless of gameplan. Even in the rematch when Holyfield fought a smart tactical fight, it was very close and against a Bowe who wasn't in the best shape, looking like he just put on 10 lbs of flab from the first fight. I'm not big on Compubox, but for whatever its worth, it had Bowe throwing a lot more and landing over 100 punches more than Evander.

 

I can`t see an early stoppage either. I do think Joe had a shot at stopping Evander in the late rounds if your talking about a 15 round fight. After 9 or 10 rounds of Frazier`s body assault Joe would be able to shift his attack to the head and I believe Holyfield as tough as he was could be finished. My main reason being Joe is gonna get inside and stay inside.

 

Better chin than Frazier? No,,

 

Sure. Frazier was down how many times? Twice by Bonavena, 6 times in Foreman 1, don't remember how many in Foreman 2, was it 3? Another fighter decked him earlier in his career. That makes about 12 times. Ramos staggered him. Yep, Holyfield had a better chin.

 

Joe got up 6 times against Foreman. That was one fight against a terror of a heavyweight force. According to your logic had he stayed down after the 1st or 2nd knockdown he would have a better chin?