Rewatched Holyfield-Tyson I

It was exciting when it happened and a pretty good HW fight. A great atmosphere and it ended in a big upset.

It was still overrated though, IMO. There was too much holding for my liking. It won Fight of the Year in 1996, over much better fights like Barrera-McKinney, Gatti-Rodriguez, and Bowe-Golota 2.

Holyfield adapted well as he got older. He got bigger, stronger, and controlled his love for warfare. He was more controlled in this fight. Clinching a lot, muscling Tyson around, picking his spots.

 

Holyfield probably doesn't get the credit he deserves due to revisionism. However, at that time Tyson was game and feared once again. Douglas was a fluke or pass of the mind from most people. And Tyson although not entirely focused like 80's Tyson was still relatively young and had a lot of his tools. Thus, this win is big for Holyfield. I like Holyfield's resume a lot. The more I think the more he belongs in my top 10 HW.

I have Tyson #10, Holyfield #11.

 

I have no problem with either guy on the lower end of the top 10, or just outside it.

 

Great fight until after Round 6. After Tyson was knocked down, he seemed content with letting Holyfield clinch and maul him all night.

 

holyfield was holding tyson alot. it wasnt one of the greatest hw fights but yeah it was pretty good.

 

If Holyfield wasn't allowed to hold so much, Tyson would have perhaps beaten him.

 

Tyson held too. There's a myth propagating that Tyson was this "inside-fighter" but in truth he liked to have space to operate his big explosive combos. You can watch Tyson in so many fights be so content in clinching. He lost that and got further away from this after Cus died.

 

holy was holding more, tyson never seemed to be able to will himself out of the clinches. but yeah you right about tyson inside-game. he was kind of a lazy fighter on the inside and it got progressively worse after he became a headhunter.

 

Truth. Holyfield wouldn't have been able to pull that holding/clinching crap on Joe Frazier. Joe would have kept smashing his body, even while in the clinches. Tyson, on the other hand, just let Holyfield bully him and force him backwards. atsch

 

Tyson always had a tendency to be lazy in the clinches.

The Ruddock rematch was an exception.

 

thats because ruddock was trading blow for blow with tyson and payed for it with a busted jaw and busted ribs. holyfield knew better.

 

Holyfield exposed a weakness there, and it was a great strategy on his part.

 

One of my favorite matches of all time. Rounds 7-10 are a bit of the going-through-the-motions-category, but 1-6 and 10-11 are great. What a finish, by a guy perceived to have little knockout power AND weak stamina. He just destroyed Tyson.

There are big upsets that are great to watch the first time, but once you know who wins they're mediocre. This was not one of them.

My favorite part of the match, besides the knockdown, is late in round 2, when Holyfield stuns Tyson with a right hand and spins him into the ropes, throwing a few shots and then landing the perfect left hook. Crowd goes nuts and Tyson did not like what he was seeing.

 

It's fights like this that lead me to think Holyfield doesn't always get his due as a fighter. He displayed intelligence, savvy, a great chin, grit, and the ability to stick to a gameplan.
Tyson came to fight and it looked for a while like it was going to be the second coming, but Holyfield broke his will.