What was the deal with Holyfield and head butting?

Nah every top fighter is not dirty.
You can see that many boxers sometimes, rarely or never foul-at least intentionally.
You act like everybody does all of those extreme things, & some never do ANY of them.
Including Golota-like scrotum attacks, kicking, strangling, tear at eyes-& you think the best fighters only do it more?

Maybe you fought in a brutal, dishonorable environment.
But I wonder if all your opponents would agree that they & everyone the ever fought was a Big Time Cheat.

We can see from numerous videos that many fighters are fairly-very clean.

 

Holyfield is steroids yes but skinny legs still also.
he had steroids ever since at 1988 or before & from Haney Lee bodybuilding champion & Tim Hallmark

& most steroids had was from when was with Emmanuel Steward . this was good steroids Kronk

 

no professional foul you wont easy see it on videos. all boxer do some foul. every thing.

 

I never say BIg Time cheat. this is fair fight all fair

but not strict by book of rules.

 

Tyson tried to ram him and paid the price.

 

If you mean all boxers at least rarely commit some foul, that is likely.
But some boxers seldom or never *intend* to foul.
Your English is fractured; if you mean by "every thing" what your post before suggested, that all boxers commit many or all fouls: absolutely not.

Like anything else it is a "bell curve".
Some fould constantly, some almost never.
You act like everybody is dirty & corrupt.
Also there is no evidence that the better boxers foul more.

 

In this era, just about every fighter wears headgear in probably 90% of the rounds that he boxes. Amateur fights, and all the rounds of sparring. Actual fights with no headgear make up a small portion of the total.
As a result very few fighters ever learn what to do with their head in close, so they just stick it in there because, with headgear, there are no consequences. And most coaches don't bother to teach it because they don't know because headgear, in their minds, makes such knowledge irrelevant.
To see what I am talking about, watch how Duran uses his head inside- Freddie Brown knew how to teach it. In older fights, generally, you see much more nuance in the use of the head as a tool of position and leverage, though the billy goat approach has always found favor.

 

I think Armstrong used his head better then Ol Duran. I can’t remember who it was against but when he had the window, what I liked is he used to push them out of a position to punch properly and make the shot negligible while also still keeping his spot in the pocket. Cool stuff.

 

So much of that is on the way to becoming extinct. Nobody fights enough to really learn how to do it. The idea that 300 amateur fights is the same as the experience racked up by pros like Armstrong, Duran, Moore, and so many others is comical.

 

Some good stuff on this subject from posters that know their stuff.... Especially on boxing
Tactics taught at almost All old school boxing gyms.
But while I do agree Holyfield wasn't necessarily purposely fighting dirty.
I do believe as he aged , put on more muscle, and loss flexibility ,speed and Mobility because of that extra strength .
His head was in a position where a head butt was likely to occur because of his aggression.
In that situation, it's better to take the blow with the top of one's head, than in the face , or on the chin.

 

You become what you practice!

 

The Evander Holyfield headbutt created such delicacies as Fried Ear, cooked in Red Wine. The Food Network chefs would be salivating at this dish. Lol.

 

This content is protected

 

Unless I misread, it sounds like Mike was explaining the dirty little tricks fighters in the past used. Mike would know this regardless of how he fought because I think he fairly qualifies as a boxing historian.

Or do I have to watch the two hour interview with Lewis to get it?