Joe Louis vs Evander Holyfield:

Funny,

Max Schmeling did.

 

I think Holyfield, if he jabbed and moved (and rested on the inside with his head protuding forward like cheating sneak he was), could give Louis plenty of troubles early on. Then, late in the fight, I think Louis would see Holyfield's stamina drop a tad, and then unleash some combinations that would be the hardest in-sequence punches Holyfield had ever faced. I Holyfield would either be stopped or at least go down enough times to sway the decision in favour of Louis.

In their second fight, Holyfield would try the same tactic, but find that leaning into Louis would cost him due to uppercut/left-hook/right-cross combinations. Robbed of his place to rest, Holyfield would tire more quickly and severely, just as he did against Bowe. Never one to let a hurt opponent go, Louis would unleash LONG combinations that would eventually coerce a compassionate ref to stop it.

(This is assuming that, as was the norm for him, Louis had little to no footage of Holyfield to use to plan his fight. If he has footage, I predict that the first fight would look like the second and end in a mid-round TKO.)

 

Louis was 23 years old, and unbeaten in 27 pro fights, yet according to you he wasn't in his prime. Interesting. Was Tyson in his prime at age 23 when he lost to Douglas? Was Holyfield or Tyson ever Ko'd by a 190 Pound fighter?

All interesting questions.

 

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

later

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

You mean the same supremely conditioned, fast, hard punching, highly skilled boxer that was nearly knocked out by late substitute Bert Cooper?
Theat same one who punched hiself out trying to knock Cooper out and who suddenly developed a cut in his glove in the 5th round that earned him a reprieve?

Louis was dropped by a few guys but mostly they were flash knockdowns and the opponent paid dearly for their audacity. In the Cooper fight, Holyfield was basically unconscious.

I'm not trying to denigrate Holyfield here, but in any fight it's possible to get knocked down. Both Louis and Holyfield were put down by guys that maybe had no right knocking down their foe, but that's heavyweight boxing for you. **** happens.

This leads me to elaborate on a point that hasn't been brought up yet - Holyfield was there to be hit. He was no defensive genius. Cooper found a home for his right hand in his fight with Evander, Foreman landed some clubbing shots that were so slow he could have mailed his intentions to Holyfield beforehand, equally old Larry Holmes belted Holyfield with quite a few stinging right hands, Bowe didn't struggle to find him in all 3 of their fights, Dokes and Stewart hit Holyfield with dozens of good shots...it's more a testament to Holyfield's chin than any defensive abilities he had that he withsood most of that and still established a tremendous legacy for himself.

Against a sharp and accurate puncher like Louis, how can this not be to Holyfield's detriment?

 

Galento was ranked 4th by Ring Magazine when he fought Louis. You have to ask what got him there.

Was it his slick boxing ability?

Was it his diligent training regime?

Was it his charming personality?

I will give you three guesses what single outstanding atribute got Galento as far as he got.

 

Buster Douglas

vs Tyson weighed 231 1/2
vs Holyfield weighed 246

So he weighs a whopping 14 1/2 pounds more vs Holyfield than he did against Tyson.

Think about it.

 

Schmeling might have been a 190 lb fighter but he was a slick counterpuncher and hit like a mack Truck.

I would consider him a much stiffer test of a chin than Holyfield.

 

For good reason too. Surely we can't write of Douglas weighing an extra 15 pounds when he was known for inconsistency and motivational drama's. It's a well known claim that he used personal tragedies leading up to the Tyson fight as motivational tools and was as focused as he had ever been. Douglas hadn't weighed as high as 246 for more than 5 years. This was not the highly focused and superbly conditioned fighter that entered the ring vs Tyson. Not even close. The stars may have aligned in February 1990, but they were never to align again.

I'm not even saying the Douglas of the Tyson fight would have beaten Holyfield, not one bit, but to compare the two versions given the facts is way left of centre.

 

Of course he wasn't peak, everybody knows that. He had defensive flaws some could drive a truck through. He came back after this loss, shored up his defensive technique and went from strength to strength.

 

Louis was in his prime when he lost to Schmeling, just like Tyson was in his prime against Douglas and Holyfield. They were not at there peaks but when they are a big force in the division and look spectacular, i think the only logical conclusion is that they are in their primes.