It was an impressive win for Holyfield, even considering that Savarese had been inactive. He did what he should have against a fighter of that caliber.
I had said before the Savarese fight that it did'nt matter how well Holyfield fought Savarese, his prior fights with Byrd, Toney, and Donald were enough to convince me that he was immensely deteriorated. Savarese just happens to have been a C to C+ caliber fighter when he was at his prime as a Heavyweight. It was a perfect opponent for Holyfield to have looked good against. .....a slow plodding fighter with much less skill than Holyfield. .....but having said that, I saw the replay of Holyfield Savarese on ESPN Classic.......I was suprised at the hop and spring in Holyfield's legs. One of the things I've noticed of Holyfield is that he's had little spring and his balance and coordination has looked terrible over his last several fights leading to the Savarese fight. I'd imagine some would say, well that was Savarese he was up against..... I'm one of Holyfield's biggest admirer's, and I still dont think he should be fighting, but I'd have to come to the conclusion after seeing his fight with Savarese that it was the best Holyfield I've seen since his fight with Rahman. Savarese was the perfect opponent of course, but still Holyfield looked so much better against Savarese than even his fights with Jeremy Bates and Vinny Madalone who imo are 2nd rate when you even compare them to Lou Savarese. I'm not sold on Holyfield being able to compete with the upper echelon, but it was sure nice to see some of the bounce, spring, and multiple combinations that Holyfield threw out there vs Savarese..... Holyfield fought 10 strong active rounds vs Savarese and still looked like he could have gone a few more.....I never thought I'd see that type of stamina from Holyfield again......at the very least it showed me that Holyfield is taking winning a championship very seriously. Thats the thing about Holyfield.....He believes......He believes he can compete with anybody.......whether thats good or bad, its a whole lot better than the effort that most Heavyweights nowdays give us. If he draws the right opponent, Holyfield may suprise and be Heavyweight champ of the world again..... As a fan, I'd wish he'd retire, but as long as he's fighting, I'll support him and root for him. As long as he's fighting.....Go Holyfield!!!!!
The left hook he landed on Savarese was among the best left hooks he's ever landed. Perhaps the best. And Holyfield always had a quality hook. Holyfield is overall a shadow of his former self and he's been fighting fringe contenders, has-beens and clubfighters but he's impressive for a 44 year old man. People look back and glorify the comebacks of old Foreman and old Holmes (who both lost CLEARLY to young Holyfield) but I think Holyfield looks in far better shape than they were at that age. Holyfield has yet to beat anyone in his 40s who ranks with Ray Mercer or Michael Moorer as they were when Larry and George beat them but I'm certainly not ruling out the possibility. Look, if guys like Shannon Briggs and Oleg Maskaev can have big wins in the HW division in the last 12 months then Holyfield has to be given a chance.
better to be a shadow of an atg than an original nobody......the old man can still surprise a few of us i think......he will win a portion of the crown if he keeps up these perfrormances, but he wont be undisputed.......
Thing with Holy is, When Foreman got old, he abandoned any real speed or movement training and just concentrated on maintaining his fearsome power, so he could wear down guys with those clubbing blows or take them out of there with one shot. What Holmes done was try to keep his jab in top form, and with his jab he was always likely to outbox people. What holy is doing is not really concetrating on any one aspect, rather working on maintaining all his game, even though it is inevitably deteriorating. The activity has probably halted the decline for now, but it wont stop forever, so he needs to push on. I'd say that Holyfield has about a year to 18 months where he will be able to perform like he is doing now, but after that his skill will just plummet and no amount of training or conditioning will reverse it. If he is still fighting in 2-3 years time he is either going to be KO'ed or completely outclassed by D tier fighters, or will have some serious brain damage.
