Rewatched Holyfield-Tyson I

Not always. Right before Tyson left Rooney, when he was at his absolute peak he was fairly active when tied up. Holmes was recieving a beating to the body when he tied up, the Holmes fight is Tyson at his best. It showed a lot more than his demolition job of Spinks.

Tyson did usually pretty much take a nap in the clinches though.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't say that Rooney-era Tyson was a demon up close either. It was his lack of activity up close that Made Tyson-Tillis closer than it should've been, as Tillis could land some jabs then get little back on the inside. Mike was most dangerous when closing into that range rather than necessarily forehead-to-forehead.

As for Holy-Tyson I, it's a real good fight. I have zero problem with Holyfield's tactics, there's a world of difference between clinching because you're worried or have little skill, and using it aggressively to outmuscle your opponent and clamp down on them.

Despite that, it's not a very close fight. I didn't really thinking both guys were throwing bombs that much, Tyson kinda got neutralised so much I could only give him the 1st and 5th. He was competative in the rounds between, but as soon as he had that flash KD in the 6th he just seemed to go into autopilot.

But very good though. Just not the best fight of 96, even at heavyweight. Bowe-Golota II just had everything.

 

That's because a 5'11 guy with short arms is not going to outjab his opponent from a distance, on the backfoot. Why give up your advantages? It's called smart boxing.

 

:good

Probably most likely in H2H scenarios, too, rather than legacy. Maybe both, but unfortunately Holyfield had his inconsistencies.

 

Good points. I always want Holyfield to retire. I hear he's getting a rematch with Valuev. Guys about 100 pounds bigger. I know he's a big goof but his record (Not resume) is stellar and although Holy won the 1st match in most eyes (And mine) I think that if he wins the Heavyweight title for the 5th time he has an instant jump in my ATG Heavyweight list. So I agree with you but if he beats Valuev it could help his legacy in the longrun.

 

It was exciting watching it live because it was so unexpected, but really it was sloppy display of boxing by Tyson and Holyfield just held and held and wore Tyson out.

 

Tyson was definitely a mid range fighter, no argument from me. But shortly before he split from Rooney he was fighting in the clinches a fair bit, I watched the Holmes fight the other day and was impressed by his activity when tied up.

Earlier in his career and almost instantly afterward Rooney left, Tyson wouldn't move in the clinches. I never really understood this, he just used that time to rest and get reset back to midrange but if he had better inside skills he would of been near impossible to beat.

 

Yep, but the thing is Tyson was never primarily an inside fighter as we both agree (Kind of a shame he didn't do more work to the body). Even with Rooney, Tyson had to keep getting reminded to work the body... I don't know why, but in the clinches for some reason he felt "vulnerable." I guess because he felt so close and exposed and maybe he couldn't use his skills with such little room. I don't know... I can't understand it either.

 

I would say the majority of the early Tyson was infighting. He had to get close to land shots. He also threw punches from a wide stance so he had to be close. His jab and right hand usually got him inside where he opened up with combinations.
His post prison career style consisted of pretty much no infighting and a lot of huge one shot haymakers, which was a big no no. His power was good, but it was great when it was delivered in combinations.

 

I would disagree. I say mid-range and I say there was more of it pre-prison but it wasn't there as much as it should/could've been. He was overly content in clinches pretty consistently in my opinion.

 

This was a great fight, Holyfield had the perfect game plan and carried it out throughout the fight. I think Tyson held his own for a large part and it wasn't a total white wash. One thing i have always thought, is the "older" version of Holyfield the best version to beat Tyson? he used to get caught up in wars and that would be the worst thing to do against Tyson. I think the best match up between these two would be '88 Tyson Vs '96 Holyfield.

Holyfield caught Tyson with a massive right hand late in the 10th round which i think is a real testament to Tyson's chin! (i think its the one in ur avatar kmcc505).

Just wondering wot u people thought about this: Tyson has always claimed that he cant remember the fight after the first few rounds but admits that Holyfield fought a beautiful fight. Tyson was gracious in defeat in all of his losses (bar holy II) so this seems odd for him to make it up, wot do u lot think about this?

-- Just a note, i have seen all of Tysons fights(bar sims) and i would totally agree that he is a mid-range fighter.

 

holyfield does not to that against a prime mike either, Mike was just a head hunter at this stage, stopped setting guys up and his head movement is almost gone, plus, 5 years in prsion and just a couple cheap tune ups, he still lasted 11 rounds against a great fighter, sucks Prime mike never got a chance to face, Lewis, Holy (Lewis gets killed, Holy still has a chance IMO, but much tougher obviously).

 

Despite getting punked out, Tyson still had heart at this stage of his career. He got up from the knockdown, at least. In later fights, if he was knocked down, he didn't wanna continue at all.