The easiest way to look at this is to see how bad Tyson was in the 1996 bout. For one he claims he under trained because he felt holyfield would be a piece of cake given his last two fights were terrible. But how many things did Tyson not do in the actual fight in 1996 compared to the things Tyson did from 1985-88. How would holyfield have fared up against those things?
I recall immediately after Holyfield fought Bert Cooper (who had replaced Tyson after Tyson was injured) almost everyone dismissed Holyfield's chances of beating Tyson based on how badly Cooper had Evander hurt. Then two fights later seeing how Rid**** Bowe ripped up Vander on the inside with bodyshots and uppercuts didnt help Vander's case either. The conventional wisdom in 92 was that Vander wasn't a true heavyweight, he was also too easy to hit because of his tendency to brawl. It took Vander a little while to mature into the heavyweight division. Tyson woulda been too much for Holyfield at that time IMO
IM A HUGE TYSON FAN BUT GO LOOK AT THE STAREDOWN TO THE 2ND FIGHT AND TELL ME WHO LOOKS SCARED OF WHO :deal BUT THEN AGAIN TROLLING IS NEGATIVE ATTENTION SEEKING THRILLS
Dont buy the **** Evander was scared of Tyson. Tyson was more intimidated of Evander. The second fight staredown said everything.
I tend to agree. After Cooper, Holyfield gained major experience at the heavyweight level facing Larry Holmes, Bowe, Stewart, Bowe again, Moorer, Mercer and Bowe a third time with every single fight being competitive. During this time Tyson was rotting in prison and upon his release faced a sham in McNeeley, looked horrible against Mathis, looked good against a statuesque Bruno and got rid of Seldon in 90 seconds, less than 8 total rounds combined during his comeback. Hardly, HARDLY the version that swept aside the division in the 80's. Some people here say Holyfield was past his prime, which he was, but was able to put those tough rounds under his belt to good use. Tommy Brooks had the perfect game plan and brought in Gary Bell and David Tua to simulate Tyson's offense. This isn't revisionism, but Holyfield was better prepared for Mike than the other way around. Mike's fault of course.
The quick Seldon dispatch may have been the most detrimental to Tyson. It likely gave false sense of security. He would have been better off if had more struggle coming into the fight. The prefight for the first one had a lot of speculation that Holyfield could get hurt.
Exactly. It made him overconfident and I truly believe Mike trained harder for Seldon than for Holyfield anyways. McNeeley and Mathis put up better fights than two world champions. I remember Tyson-Seldon had been postponed from June or July and got pushed back to September with Holyfield next in November.
u weird holy whole style was different in the 80s and he was smaller he would lose why do you people always cause he beat mike in 90s that he always would have dummy people fight with different styles as they age so logic says the fight would be different
I think this might hit that situation right on the head. Prime Mike would probably have drawn the prime Holy into Warrior mode, which would have been the kiss of death for the latter. I think Holy might have lasted the whole 12, but it would have been a UD decision for Mike and a fight not entirely unlike against Bowe I. And there would probably have been a knockdown of Evander. In any event, it would have been a terrific fight to watch, and Mike would have gotten staggered. Mike anytime after Bruno loses to prime Holy.
I think had they fought before prison, Holyfield still doesn't beat Tyson. Holy has a better chance than their primes but he didn't have big fight heavyweight experience yet. I still don't think he beats Tyson in 1991 with Giachetti in Mike's corner. The Douglas fight kinda woke Tyson up and losing the belts without getting a proper rematch made him furious. Mike wanted the belts back and he wouldn't have been ill prepared like he was for Douglas or rusty like he was in 1996 for The Surreal Deal. Holyfield got Tyson at the perfect time. And I think Evan Fields knows it too.
