Lyle vs Holy

You have to specify which version of holy. Hes been a young skinny light heavy, a muscular work horse heavy in his 20's, a mid 30's heavy who occasionally battled heart conditions and illnesses, and a 40+ washed up holy who still had ring iq and skill.

Lyle loses by UD to most versions except obviously the light heavy. He had a punchers chancr but i wouldnt my breath. Even youger holy could take nasty shots from bowe, foreman, etc. Lyle had skill but starting his pro career late really hurt him. Holy was on another level.

 

In that case I see a bit of a war. Not quite foreman and lyle but near enough. Both takin turns to hurt each other but it's holyfield coming out on top just. Holyfield wins ko round 5. But he has to survive a few rounds of hell.

 

Are you sure holy can stop lyle in only 5 rounds???

Im not saying holy "couldnt" stop lyle but holy wasnt a power puncher even in his prime he relied on volume punching and accuracy to hurt guys. Lyle survived bombs from shavers and went on to win. He never went down against bonavena and won the war. He got up against a prime foreman and kept fighting. It took Ali 11 rounds to stop him on his feet.

I think if holyfield were to stop him it would be late at the earliest but id like to hear your take.

 

Holyfield may not be a bigger puncher than say foreman or shavers but he had a higher volume of punches. Holyfield at some point would be tagged but his chin wasn't bad at all. I see lyle throwing his stuff but not as fast as holyfield and consistently. Not sure what round it was but when holy fought foreman he let loose with a barrage of at least 19 unanswered punches. But of course foreman has a great chin. So I see a fatigued lyle after throwing everything at holyfield, been caught mid way and facing a barrage of hooks and right s. That imo would be enough to put lyle down. He would be literally to gassed to rise.

 

When lyle wasnt just brawling away like a barroom brawler he had good ring iq and actually had an underrated jab and head movement. If he knows hes going for 15 rounds i doubt he makes the same mistake foreman did and tries extra hard to get holy out of there. Look at the ali fight, he knew not to get overly aggressive and paced himself well. He was outboxing him and ali needed be stoppage.

Also another factor, lyle is a little bigger than holy frame wise, an inch taller and a little heavier. If holy is in range to throw his fancy 4-5-6 punch combinations he'll also be in range for one of lyle bombs. Holy had good balance, form, and technique but its not like he was nasseem hamed and is gonna just dance circles around lyle without getting hit once.

A third factor, lyles stamina was fine. Unlike some punchers he had experience going the championship rounds. He went the distance with skilled technicians like young and quarry and had wars with ledoux and bonavena. Its not gonna be a piece of cake to tire him out.

A fourth factor: holy loved to brawl and so did lyle. It wouldnt bet a single cent on holy keeping a cool head the entire time and not being willing to trade or fight in the trenches. Dont get me wrong holy had a great chin and lots of heart but IF he were to do this it would be a very foolish strategy. He may not get koed but he would definitely get hurt and might get dropped or drop the decision fighting where lyle the former inmate feels most comfortable.

 

I think we agree it would be a good match up cobra between two guys who could put on a good show.

 

Lyle outboxes Holy

 

If Lyle had won the Foreman & Ali fights, both in his reach, we would be talking about another level of fighter. He just got started too late in his career.

 

Come on, Holyfield gets in a mano a mano fight with Lyle he gets knocked out.He'll hit Lyle but if he brawls he's done

 

Holyfields a level above for mine and i'd take him by later stoppage. I must rewatch a bit of Lyle tho, been a while.

 

Lyle damn near beat Foreman. Got outboxed thoroughly by Quarry, knock the bejeezus out of Shavers in a round.
Holy brawled when it wasn't the smartest tactic many times and that's what happens here.
Holyfield brawls instead of boxes and wins a mid-rounds TKO the hard way.

 

Holyfield would beat Lyle. Lyle was too inconsistent. When Lyle fought Peralta he was dealing with an old overweight lhw who had nothing but guile on Lyle. He was able to do just enough to keep Lyle honest, guessing, and eek out a draw. You think Holy would have that problem? The closest style to Holy that Lyle fought was Quarry and Quarry gave him a boxing lesson by alternating between boxing and punching, just like Holy would do. I dont see anyway Lyle beats Holy. As some have said above Lyle was an underrated boxer (in fact I think he was a better boxer than brawler) but he wasnt as good as Holy, I dont think his stamina was as good, his confidence certainly wasnt. I think you see Lyle slowly pressuring Holyfield with Holyfield boxing effectively and everytime Lyle would force an exchange Holyfield would fight back like a cornered tiger, fight Lyle off of him, keep him in check, and go back to boxing. Hed take a decision imo.

 

Evander by decision.