Joe Frazier Vs. Evander Holyfield..Prime for Prime?

I think ETM nailed it. I wouldn't be shocked if Evander won but I can't help but remember how close Burt Cooper came to ko'ing Holy in thier fight by using similar tactics to get inside that Frazier did. And whie Cooper was a dangerous opponet and a good fighter when trained properly, he was no Joe Frazier. Does that mean Joe wins automatically? Of course not. But it does show that if Cooper coud work his way inside and hurt Evander then certainly Frazier could.....and would as well. Joe by decision in a barn burner.

 

Holyfield. Better combination puncher, a great inside fighter with underrated Defense. Both have underrated D actually but Holyfield had a greater punch variety coming off of it IMO

His ability to roll with shots and come back with his own carries the day as no doubt Frazier would be the one coming forward, playing into Holyfield's great countering abilities.

 

To be honest, holy always struggled with pressure fighters with power, just because of him always getting dragged into slug-fests. He was too stubborn and always wanted to prove a point. I think this would suit Frazier well. Frazier would stop him late imo.

 

just watching Burt Cooper a Joe Frazier imitation with a lot less give Holyfield hell I feel Joe had too much firepower and focus and Joe went to the body well and James Toney KO'd Evander by body work, one of the things few big guys do is really bang to the body but something Frazier would do and IMO stop Evander

 

Good point Bummy. Few fighters of the Holyfield era ever attempted a sustained body attack on Evander. Lets face it, body punching is a lost art in the HW division and has been for quite some time. When Toney went to Holy's body he systematically dismantled him. No one one had ever done that to Evander before and frazier was a body punching demon. Fighters today seem to rely on heads shots too often. "kill the body and the head will die" is a forgotten mantra in the HW division today but Frazier epitomized it. It would be a war no doubt but I lean toward Frazier by dcision.

 

This is a great fight ! Two warriors, with no quit in either of them ... It can go two ways, if Holy boxes uses his jab, combinations and lateral movement he can squeak out a decision. Here`s the problem, the warrior in Holy might not let him fight Frazier that way. If it goes into the trenches and Holy goes inside against Frazier, that`s a blueprint for how he loses to Frazier. Inside Holy`s strengths are nullified and Frazier is a stronger inside fighter. Now Bert Cooper ( a less than Frazier clone) gave Holy problems and hurt him as well in their fight. this fight comes down to who fights his fight. I am basing this on `71` edition Frazier who just wouldn`t stop against Ali.And Frazier`s violent body attack like a cheap wine, would have a major affect on Holy as the fight goes late. I like Frazier, but it has to be the Frazier of Superfight 1 ...Tyson/Frazier comparisons are not valid. Tyson looked to fire bombs and get you out and was not the consistent body puncher that Frazier was. Plus where Tyson tends to menatlly wilt if the fighter doesn`t go, Frazier digs in and keeps on `Smokin`.

 

I am just rereading some of the great posts. What a barn-burner of a fight this would have been !!

 

The very best version of Frazier by decision...otherwise Holyfield. Evander would be my pick to win a series between the two.

 

Coincidentally, the best round that Tyson had against Holyfield was round 5, the only round where Tyson worked Holyfields body

 

Good point ! I thought that Bowe softened up Holy significantly by going to the body (hard) as well ...

 

You're right 85...I forgot to mention that as well. Tyson landed a brutal body shot that had Holy wincing and in obvious distress in that round. If Mike was a good body puncher ala Frazier that fight might've gone a different way. Joe would've made Holy's body a target and that might've been the deciding factor. He would've taken punishment downstairs like never before and let's face it, body punching wasn't in vogue at the time. Joe by decision like ETM said.

 

Frazier by KO.

 

Holyfield either late knockout or UD.

 

A few points that have been raised against Fraizier or for Holyfield in this matchup that are very questionable indeed, but first I'd like to say that FOTC Frazier was IMO the best version of Smokin Joe there's ever been. I don't think anyone wound Frazier up quite the way Ali did. I genuinely think he wanted to knock Ali's head from his body and had never trained as hard or been that motivated for a fight.

I've seen a few mentions of Holyfield backing Frazier up? Get out of here seriously. Not even one of the most destructive punchers in boxing stopped him from coming forward, so I fail to see how someone with power more compatible with Ali is going to have Frazier on the back foot.

Another suspicious point raised was Holyfield keeping Frazier on the end of his jab and that the majority of the fight would be on the outside. Ali is one of the greatest heavyweights in the art of outfighting and of he couldn't stop the majority of the fight being on the inside, ropes and in the clinches, then how is Holyfield going to?

Again people discredit Joe for just having the left hook, but when its as good as it was, is that such a bad thing? It's up their with Wlad and Holme's jab, Louis and Rocky's short right. Deadly for every second of the 15 rounds and those suggesting Frazier wasn't a hard enough puncher to hurt Holyfield, take into account the fact he dropped a man that some consider to have the greatest chin of all time?

Personally I think Frazier wins. Although his style is limited and doesn't really have a plan B, he's so good at what he does that he would rarely need a plan B no matter who he faced. If Holyfield isn't good enough to box Joe or keep him on the end of the jab, and if he tries to go to war with Frazier, there's only going to be one winner whether it's a hard fought victory, that looks fairly comfortable on the scorecards or a late stoppage.