Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield in 1991

Also want to compliment you on your detailed post, spot on IMO.

Holyfield brawled and brawled some more around that time, just look at the Bowe fight, he just kept coming in going tit for tat, that is absolutely deadly against Tyson, nobody wins against Mike in a point blank shoot out, too quick, too good of a chin , too precise and too powerful. Plus Holy DID NEVER like it ot the body and Mike would punish it relentlessly, see Razor Ruddock......broken ribs......even in their 96 encounter MIke hit him ONLY once with a down/upstairs combo and Holy visibly faded, the fight anouncers noticed it too but Tyson was so far gone he did not even know what worked or not except head hunting. In 91 he would have followed big time with that bodywork and in all likelyhood would have been the beginning of the end for Holyfield.

 

Was going to read this post, but stopped when you said that Holyfield brawled with Foreman.

.......did'nt need to read any further when and erroneous statement like that is said off the bat.

Holyfield boxed circles around Foreman, constantly lateraling in a circle around Big George.

.......not at any point did Holyfield stood his ground to war with Foreman in a give and take type war.......

When Holyfield would land clean and hard enough to shake Foreman, he'd follow up and go on the attack.....but as soon as Foreman got his marbles about him and was ready to resume the attack, Holyfield was back to boxing circles.


The reason Holyfield did not war with Foreman when he had done against many other heavyweights, was because he knew who was in front of him, and Evander could feel Foreman's power so he was'nt going to be a fool to stand and trade.

The same would be of 91' that was at 96', the only difference would be that both would have been quicker and faster.


Somebody already mentioned it, Holyfield had been studying Tyson since his days as a cruiserweight, when Tyson was knocking out everyone left and right.

Imo, Holyfield already had Tyson figured out before he even moved up from cruiser and fought his first fight as a Heavyweight.


Bottom line is that Holyfield is too multifaceted for a fighter like Tyson. There are just too many ways Holyfield could turn too to beat Tyson, where's Tyson only can fight one way....foward and attacking and of course with head movement.......

I always here, Mike was'nt moving his head.......well he was moving his head, but he'd move it less once the other fighter had him figured out and was hitting him with or without the headmovement.


"Mike was'nt doing this, he was'nt doing that......oh yeah, the other guy had nothing to do with what Mike was'nt doing.:nut

 

If Holyfield had brawled with Foreman he would have been KO'd. He outboxed him, and outfought him at times, but he didn't "brawl".

The only reason he stood toe-to-toe with Bert Cooper and got caught was because he was trying to impress and get this "second-rate" challenger out of their quick.
Likewise with Bowe, he really thought Bowe was lacking in heart and stamina and would wilt under the pressure.

Against Tyson in '91, I dont see how people think he would make the same mistake. He knew exactly what Tyson was all about and capable of and didn't underestimate him at all. Tyson was the man he'd always respect.

 

:thumbsup OMG mega-good truth!! :thumbsup


teh reason Tyson never used head-movement AND COmbos VS Buster , Holyfeild And Lewis is cos they were to good-skillwize for him to use it VS them!! They forced one-demensional swarmer like him to look for a Haymaker cos that his only chance to beat these bettter class of fighters! :deal :deal

 

I agree with you post:good

Back in 90/91 i was a lone voice over here arguing with anyone & everyone that Holyfield is the one & only man who will tame Tyson & everyone said **** off he's too small & just a blown up cruiser, not enough power ect ect, Nigel Benns manager Ambrose Mendy & i near on came to blows over it as opinions got that heated & now in hindsite we were both wrong but from different reasons:yep

As some earlier posters have pointed out that Holyfield would have been well up for it, thats correct! He would have been far too much up for it in the aggresive sense that he'd want to make the statement of knocking Tyson out & now IMO he would have got himself flattened around 7/8, it was the Cooper fight that swung it for me back then. I've always been a huge Evander fan but now we really know his warrior style make up he would have torn into tyson & that would have been the end of him back in 91.........I'd even paid for my ticket & trip just one ****in day before Tyson put in the sick-note with the rib injury, what a crusher:fire

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Cmon thats not true. He stood toe to toe with everyone including Bowe. He stood toe to toe with Dokes, Stewart, and Foreman. Your talking about fighters that arent even brawlers like Tyson. He didnt just stand in with Cooper because he was trying to impress his hometown, he did it because hes a brawler himself and Cooper brought the fight to him.
If you engage Holyfield he would brawl with you, and that includes the Foreman fight, and thats why he lost rounds and he had to return to his corner to be constantly reminded that he could box circles around Foreman and to stop trading with him.

If you guys dont think Holy brawled with Foreman I dont know what fight you were watching? Moorer flat footed and all boxed circles around Foreman and lost maybe two rounds. Holy lost rounds because he stood in and traded with Foreman. Holyfield had he chose, could have done exactly what Moorer did with more style. He had better footwork and he was faster. Instead he chose to engage Foreman alot!

 

How the hell can the '91 version of Tyson KO the '91 PRIME version of Holyfield?

With Holyfield's chin?
and heart?
and elusiveness?

 

You only have to get through about 3/4 of this video to see how much Holy stands in front of Foreman. Holy was on his toes, but he was still standing right in front of Geroge engaging him a lot.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKqpOYH7T2k[/ame]

 

He was elusive? He was going to war with everyone. Dropped by Cooper, and Bowe. Certainly Tyson's two fisted attack could have created some problems for him?

 

Spot on:yep

 

I think Holyfield wins, still.

He'd have taken a lot more damage, but he could take it, whereas Mike would have eventually folded.

A more competitive fight than the ones that actually went down, but Tyson was not tough to hit in 91, and Holyfield had the options in this fight. Tyson would go at this one way- Holyfield proved, in addition to brawling, he could box if disciplined enough. If stood in front of Tyson and simply exchanged, he could be in trouble, but if he adopted say his Foreman gameplan, I think he wins a close decision, clearly.

Tyson was tough and had a good chin, Holyfield was tougher and had a better chin. It'd get him through the rounds where he stood still too much. Tyson was more lethal in the 80's-If the assaults of Bert Cooper, George Foreman, and Riddick Bowe couldn't finish Evander, I doubt the ever-more one dimensional attack of Tyson would either.

Unless it's 88-89 Tyson in there, this is a H2H matchup in which I always feel Holyfield has the edge.

 

The "going to war with everyone" and "brawling too much" stuff just doesn't add up.

I mean, if that's the case in 1991, it was still the case in 1996.
In fact, in the 3rd Bowe fight (1995, just two fights before Tyson) Holyfield had stood static and "brawled" as severely as you can ever accuse him of doing.
Even in the Bowe fight that he won (1993) he stood and engaged at least as much as he had against Foreman.

And in his strategy against Tyson himself (1996), Holyfield was very physical, outstrengthing and outpunching Tyson, and hardly moving much after the first round or two. I mean, by that time Holyfield was far more flat-footed than he had been in the late 80s/early 90s. He "brawled" with Tyson (ie. he stood his ground and let his punches go) but kept Tyson contained by tying him up and keeping him off balance and countering Tyson's every move.

Holyfield had stood trading blows with Bowe in 1995 in a pure war, yet he in 1996 that he didn't have to do that with Tyson because he knew Tyson's strengths and he knew he had the style to nullify them.

 

Holyfield never fought like he did until the mid 90's. He never clinched and held and preferred to brawl his way out of trouble.
Holyfield spent a lot of time preparing for Tyson with Tommy Brooks. He was getting his butt kicked in training by Gary Bell, and David Tua, and was ready to withdraw from the fight, (thats the truth). Brooks brought those fighters in because he knew they would make him fight differently. He just couldnt stand toe to toe and trade with a big puncher especially one who could finish like Tyson once he hurt an opponent.
Brawling with Tyson would have been brawling like he did with the other opponents I mentioned, not throwing one shot and holding on until the ref broke them.
Were talking 91 here, Holyfield was a different fighter, Tyson was a different fighter, its a completely different fight in my opinion. As I said, I believe the 91 Holyfield has a hard time with the 96 version of Tyson because Tyson's going to have more chances to hurt him.

Yeah and he got the **** kicked out of him and was knocked out

 

So, when did he start clinching and holding ?

 

Exactly. That only emphasizes the point I'm making.
He brawled too much around the time he fought Tyson.