Many of the best heavweights seem to have two distinct parts of their careers. Here's some examples Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali from (1964-1967) (arguabably the best version!) who relied heavily on his and footwork and reflexes as his defense and wasn't floored during his 9 consecutive wins of his Championship reign until his eventual suspension in 1967. The version from 1974 who beat George Foreman and lost and then regained the Championship from Leon Spinks (1974-1978) was less mobile but antcipated punches and conserved energy more but sustained more damage when he stood toe to toe with opponents in fights starting back in his return campaign against Oscar Bonavena in 1970 his subsequent loss to Joe Frazier in 1971 and comback wins over Bob Foster in 1972 and the rematch with Ken Norton in 1973 although he still had the hand speed and slugged it out he had 10 consecutive wins during his second Championship reign from 1974-1978 although he produced less knockouts than the younger Cassius Clay/Ali version. George Forman from 1973-1974 knocked out Joe Frazier and Ken Norton in spectular fashion had the limited skills but took far more risks and threw punches with reckless abandon against Ron Lyle and Joe Frazier in 1976. He loss to Jimmy Young 1977 and conversion to Christianity took his focus away from boxing and bought him back in the 1987 where he emerged as a changed man and boxer. He defensively was more sound and conservative and placed punches with more accuary and intent and learnt to pace himself through fights and still was able to win empahtically with knockout power and skill like he demonstrated against Gerry Conney in 1990 and could go the distance against Evander Holyfield for the Lineal/Undispiuted title in 1991 where he acquitted himself well despite taking a loss and against Tommy Morrison for the WBO title in 1993. His win over Michael Mooer ito become Lineal in 1994 and 3 defenses and controversial loss to Shannon Briggs in 1997 revealed he still had a lot left but not quite enough to contend with the very best of 1990s Heavweights. Mike Tyson who turned professional in 1985 under Cus D'amato and trained by Kevin Rooney in 1985 slipped punches and finished fights with explosive knockouts and in 1986 he went the ful distance with James Tillis and Mitch Green then become the youngest Heavyweight Title Champion (Floyd Patterson is still the youngest Lineal Champion !) winning the WBC belt from Trevor Berbick . in 1987 he beat James Smith for WBA title and former WBC title Champion Pinklon Thomas, IBF title Champion Tony Tucker and Olympic Gold Medalist Tyrell Biggs and former Lineal Champion Larry Holmes and the then Lineal Champion Michael Spinks in 1988. From 1988-1990 he had 2 successful defenses of the Lineal and lost to Buster Douglas. He went on a comeback campaign stacking 4 successive wins until he was convicted and sentanced to prison for **** and came back in 1995 and then reproduced another 4 consecutive wins from 1995-1996 beating WBA title Champion Bruce Seldon and WBC title Champion Frank Bruno before losing to Evander Holyfield and one last losing attempt at the Lineal title in 2002 against Lennox Lewis. Tyson's best years were from 1986-1988 under the tutelage of Kevin Rooney he was not able to reproduce the same level of skill after they went their seperate ways from the Spinks fight. The heavyweight Evander Holyfield George Benton trained version from 1988-1992 best performances were against James Tillis in 1988 and Michael Dokes in 1989 and the Heavyweight Undisputed win over Buster Douglas in 1990 and defenses of the title against George Foreman and Bert Cooper in 1991 and losing a valiant fight to Riddick Bowe in 1992 the smaller Holyfield was quicker with counter punching, stepped with opponents and through fast right crosses and left hooks the later Emanuel Stewart and Don Turner trained version looked fresh from in rematch with Riddick Bowe in 1993 and later fights with Ray Mercer in 1995 and Mike Tyson in 1996 and in the Rematch with Michael Moorer in 1997 but the version from 1988-1992 was far more consistent and sharper than the 1993-1997 Holyfield. Lennox Lewis the Pepe Correa flat top version from 1991-1994 compared to the Emanuel Stewert dreads version from 1996-2002 was faster due to being lighter and arguably more dangerous but also threw wild overhand rights and went to the body more although was more vulnerable defensively. Dreads Lewis on balance was better who jabbed more and took fewer risks. Best flat top performances of Lewis come against Mike Weaver in 1991 and then Derek williams and Donovan Ruddock in 1992 and Tony Tucker and Frank Bruno in 1993? Take your pick from 1996-2002 with wins against Ray Mercer in 1996 and Andrew Golta in 1997 as well as a knockout of Lineal Heavyweight Champion Shannon Briggs in the same year. A outstanding performance against Evander Holyfield in 1999 and rematch with Hasim Rahman in 2001 and Mike Tyson 2002.
Yes the young Wladmir Klitscko from 1996-2004 and then the Emanuel Stewert trained version changed his style alot. Also I think Similarly with the younger Peter Fury trained Tyson Fury from 2008-2015 and then the comeback version trained by Ben Davidson and Sugar Hill Stewert from 2018 onwards.
You can divide careers up a lot of ways. Larry Holmes: Ascending (rise from local Scranton fighter who was Ali’s sparring partner to signing with Don King and contendership through Shavers I); Prime Champion (through Cobb); Descending Champion (up to Spinks); The End Part I (Spinks x2 and Tyson one-off); Return (Foreman-style comeback up to Mercer); He’s Back Sort of (Mercer through title efforts vs Holyfield and McCall); Late Comeback (fights like Weaver and Butterbean).
Floyd Patterson had a kind of two tier career. After his loss to Ali he actually seemed to become a more robust fighter, even though he'd been Kod twice in one round by Liston.
Yes I was considering including him pre and post Sonny Liston. His fight in 1965 against George Chuvalo won fight of the year if I'm correct? He also fought Muhammad Ali with a back injury the same year and managed a draw against top contender in 1967 and lost to him in the rematch. His last fight with Ali in 1972 I think his corner pulled him out. Ali said he was impressed with Patterson in the rematch and said he performed better than during the first fight. Patterson maintain a decent level of conditioning throughout his career and typically weighed at 190lbs (86kg) at 6ft tall. Not bad for a Light Heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist.
Larry Holme's really emerged in 1978 with that Earnie Shavers win and then beating Ken Norton for the WBC Heavyweight Title. His prime could arguably be between 1978-1983. Tim Witherspoon took him the distance in a contested decision in 1983 and Carl Williams also in 1985 before his eventual loss to Micahel Spinks that same year. I think the Ray Mercer fight in 1992 was a masterful performance but how prepared was Mercer? As much as I like Ray Mercer he admittedly failed to be consistent. Mercer himself the last American Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medalist seemed to get a good run from 1989-1991 with 3 big wins over Bert Cooper in 1990, Francesco Damiani and Tommy Morrison in 1991 and dipped in performance and had a second wind from 1995-1996 despite losing close fights to Evander Holyfield in 1995 ,Lennox Lewis and Tim Witherspoon in 1996. Mercer said he was underprepared against Wladimir Klitschko in 2002 and didn't train properly and lost to Shannon Briggs in 2005 due to Briggs fouling. I think alot his performance ups and downs really were attributed to his motivation rather than his skills.
