What was the deal with Holyfield and head butting?

I don't know if he ever admitted to it, but he was an expert at it.

Part of boxing is controlling the ring. Holyfield kept his chin down and if a guy came in to try to force him to back up, Holyfield would dip his head down and hold his ground.

If the guy was short, he'd often run face first into the top of Evander's forehead.

If a guy was tall, he often took it right on the chin and that could be as effective as a good right hand.

When you're giving up weight to most fighters, you have to do what you can to keep them from forcing you backward.

Veteran move.

 

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He has responded. I remember one other video where he admitted to leaping in but again reiterated it was about jockeying for position to land shots and not intentional. Guy is one of my favs but he never came off as a cagey thinker in there.

I always love counting the seconds until he brings up his mom during an interview.

 

I'm not sure about other fights but when he fought Moorer the first time his trunks said HEAD on the back of them, and I don't think it was the tennis brand unless maybe that black streak was supposed the head logo

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People talk about him butting Tyson but what he did (as @Dubblechin explained above) was tuck his chin and hold his ground.

The clashes almost always involve Tyson coming forward. And Tyson throws looping power punches as he does it and he WANTS you to pull back from his head coming in on a straight line and into the wheelhouse of those punches.

No rule in boxing obligates a man to get his head of the way of another man’s. If Fighter A comes forward on a straight line, Fighter B doesn’t have to move backwards or get out of his way. In fact, Fighter B can choose to also move forward (inside the arc of the punches) and if their heads collide, it’s no more Fighter B’s fault than Fighter A’s.

In fact, you can find other fights where Tyson had head butts. Not to mention trying to MMA arm bar people in clinches, forearm and elbow strikes, forearm across the throat, etc. Mike isn’t some innocent little cupcake.

In the gym where I came up, the teaching was if you’re in proximity to where you can get butted to keep your chin down and offer the top of your head. If there’s a clash, the top of your head isn’t as likely to get damaged as if you take it on the eyebrows and get cut by leading with your face.

It’s called fundamentals.

 

Here’s Lennox Lewis talking about how Mike Tyson taught him how to get away with fouls in a fight, including head butts:

https://www.essentiallysports.com/b...-tyson-showed-him-how-to-get-away-with-fouls/

 

Lol at Holyfields headbutts being everyone elses fault because he was just standing his ground. Thats like saying this serial cheater didnt use steroids, steroid filled needles just jumped into ass cheek because he was holding his ground.

 

Tyson was a serial cheater in breaking the rules — trying to wrench arms, biting, head butting, elbows and forearms, etc.. So LOL at fouls being the other guy’s fault.

I’m not sure what steroids have to do with it, but Tyson has publicly admitted cheating drug tests (using a fake, um, appendage filled with someone else’s urine) so lord knows what was in his system. If you think he never took ‘roids and managed to regain all that muscle mass after prison so quickly in a clean way, DM me about some beachfront property I have for sale in Nebraska.

Here’s Tyson with a deliberate headbutt in the first minute or so of his first fight with Ruddock and getting warned for it (around 4:05):

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Keep watching and at 4:30-35 or so he’s putting his head on Lennox and then head butts him again (although this is more like the Holyfield stuff where he just comes in head first).

The guy moving forward is initiating a head butt. The other guy is the one who got butted. It’s not complicated.

EDIT: Seriously, watch the first two rounds of the above Ruddock fight. By the end of Round 2, Tyson has been warned for 1) head butt, 2) hitting on the bread (which he does at least twice more and gets away with), 3) low blow, 4) shoulder butt (very deliberate, just like the first head butt) … and he also gets away with a blatant forearm/elbow at the end of the second round.

Yeah, poor Mike, such a schoolboy.

 

I would say Holyfield was a dirty fighter! Dirty tactics not to mention all the roids!!!! No he isn’t the only one guilty of this. I personally think if Tyson never went to prison and Tyson and Holyfield would have fought after Holyfield beat Douglas- Tyson destroys him. Prime Holmes whips Holyfields butt and so does a Prime Foreman. Heck I could see Mike Weaver taking him out. Cooper almost did..

 

Holyfield was good but the roids, the head butts and his wins over old men like Holmes and Foreman seriously question his greatness. Itś not his fault they were over the hill, but if other fighters are criticized for it he should be as well.

 

Why would it be a subtraction of his greatness? Not like over the hill fighters were all he beat.

 

Agree with Holmes. That was an even fight, way too even. About him being dirty, I can’t think of a HW champion from the late 60-90s who wasn’t. Foreman is the perfect guy for Holyfield to spank, focusing on Bert Cooper is like fixating on Henry Cooper with Ali.

Also come off it with the roids it doesn’t subtract from anything because you don’t know the extent of the effect and near every guy from the 70s onwards juiced, every athlete did just about. Rate them on what they did, not what you think they’d have done.

The condemnation of roids began in the 70s because of the ignorant abuse of PEDs and there side effects. It was rampart.

I’d like to say about Tyson “destroying” Holyfield @greynotsoold made a post, a detailed one on Tyson’s weaknesses being present long before Holy took advantage of them, his teams still gonna see the same stuff.

 

I think you never boxed. head clash is the commonplace with 2 aggression fighters. inevitable. if they both want fight. & basic of boxing to stand & keep chin down against aggression fighter &;hold strong position. this is basic box lesson.

as other person said there is not obligations to move away from fighter come at you. like Tyson attempt bulldoze reckless with Holyfield. no obligation on Holyfield to make nice " excuse me Mr Tyson I get away so we cant get hurt'' lol

only crazy man & ***** pussies cry over normal head clash in such as fight. I think Tyson was crazy man. & you? I dont know

 

Holyfield was dirty fighter. this ok. all top professional is top dirty. every 1 . I boxed & every fighter use foul illegal blows low in balls & head smash & elbow & stick lace on glove in face, thumb at my eye, even kick & hold & strangle & twist arm , Hold still while hitting! stand on the feet hard. every thing. the more better fighter only foul me more! Haha
it is true.
we cannot cry on this. this is fair still
I did too against with many fighter & we shake hand & have respect when fight finish. this is normal sport boxing.

& but I dislike the hitting when man is down. this foul I never do & cannot respect.

 

Your descriptions are very instructive, & I agree with almost everything you have to say.
Except that a naturally heavily muscled man can regain bulk quickly.
Muscle memory means you can regain muscle somewhat faster than if you never had it.

Now I dunno if Tyson used PEDs.
But nothing about his history, especially being bulky really young, poor, & before even lifting weights, let alone boxing...Shows he must have used steroids.

Now if you irrigate + import the sand into Nabisco land, I may be interested.