Prime Holyfield vs Prime Frazier

I asked Lary Holmes this question and he laughed saying Frazier easy ... he fought Evander and sparred many times with Joe ...

 

Frazier would stop Evander late and hurt him to the body, infact I think Holyfield might hurt Joe early as well. It would be a war with Joe coming out on top.

 

Over 15 Frazier breaks him down, in my opinion.

Imagine a CW version of Holyfield against a bigger, better, harder hitting Qawi?

 

That's what I thought of too. Frazier breaks him down, but I'm not sure he stops him. One thing I know, Holyfield wouldn't be able to stick even if he wanted to.

 

IMO that's dumbing it down too much. Holyfield had just 11 pro fights at that time for heavens sake. Qawi, tho up in weight was a brilliant seasoned warrior who put on a fantastic performance that night. If anything Holyfield is boosted by this effort. Even as he stepped up to heavyweight his chances against Tyson were considered miniscule to say the least. Even after he won a few decent bouts he was still given little chance.

I give Holyfield more of a chance than he is being given in here. Frazier would be fave but Holyfield is anything but out of this fight. The man could really soak it up and has some very underrated skills. His tactics vs Tyson were just sublime. Frazier is better inside and has more long term intensity than Tyson but Tyson also hits a bit harder and faster and is far better rounded for two handed firepower.

Holyfield has a solid 10 pounds on Joe and is strong as. Many seem fixated on what Joe would do to Evander but we also need to look at the flipside.

Ali traded a lot with Frazier and very definitely put muc hurt of his owm forward. Holyfield hits harder than Ali, especially with the left hand. At his greatest he also countered very well and has some underrated speed. I think his defense is excellent at his sharpest.

What Evander must do is neutralize the Frazier left hand as best he can. He's gonna take some but he's got to make Frazier pay along the way, and he will.

This will be a war, and a battle of sheer will as much as anything. I think Holyfield has the power and tenacity to put Frazier in serious trouble. Few fighters in history have as much heart as these two.

While Frazier would be fave i think this is almost a pick'em affair. Many say Frazier is a nightmare for Holyfield but i think Evander has some dangerous tools of his own in this one. IMO in some ways he's better equipped than past peak Ali to mix it with Joe.

I thik another fascinating match would be Bowe (tho i don't like him much at all) vs Frazier and will post it pronto.

 

Frazier UD. He's got the better inside game and would break him down to win a comfortable UD with something like 8-4.

 

If you take the Frazier of Ali 1, I would pick him over the Bowe version Holyfield who was having stamina problems (and Heart issues)...If you take the Evander that beat Tyson...that would be a competitive fight....Frazier after Ali 1 went down hill rapidly and never found the condition equal to that fight again....Frazier was a pressure fighter and had the harder punch in the hook, evander had a better 2 hands...still I think it would boil down to who was stronger after 10 rds...also even though aged (toney fight should Evander broken down with body shots) Frazier hooked to the body and head real well....Competitve but Frazier comes on late for a TKO

 

I think he just never recovered 100%. Ali's ability to take punishment was inhuman.

 

Yeah, I find it truly amazing how Ali bounced back after FOTC. But in some way the beating he took that night must have stayed with him. I think Manilla was the final straw and then the house started to crumble.

 

I would go with Frazier, by decision. Holyfield, like Ali, matches up very well against a big hitter like Tyson because of his extreme durability, strength and counter-punching skills.

However, Frazier is a whole different animal who doesn't try to knock you out with one bomb; instead he wears you down and never gives you a lung full of breath. This is the kind of fight that Holyfield was more susceptible in succumbing to, as we saw against Bowe. You can never count out Holyfield, but i think this match would somewhat resemble Frazier-Quarry I, with Evander not caving in as quickly, but gradually breaking down.

 

Two questions Chris.

Do you see Holy as substancially more dangerous than Quarry?

Do you see Holyfield as actually having a decent chance of stopping Frazier himself?

Tho i am not going to out and out pick Holy i think he is most dangerous here.

 

Of course. I didn't say he'd do as bad as Quarry, just that i think Frazier would get the better of a long-term in-fight against Holyfield.

I think the 94-96 version of Holyfield was quite powerful (knocked down Bowe, Mercer and stopped Tyson), and he has a decent chance of stopping Frazier; certainly more than Ali. I wouldn't be surprised to see Frazier tasting canvas somewhere down the stretch, however, i wouldn't count on him getting the TKO win.

 

Evander did have the abilty to put Frazier down and stop Frazier, I just think in a war of attrition Frazier wins but it could go either way

 

Frazier UD

 

I guess I'm in the minority here. In 12 rounds, prime vs prime, I would pick Evander Holyfield to defeat Joe Frazier by unanimous decision.