What Would Have Happened In 1996, If Holyfield Wasnt Thought Of As Shot And Old?

Yes it would have happened, because Holyfield signed with King and the fight was the biggest in boxing even when Holyfield was considered shot. The only thing that would have gone down differently is Tyson might have taken him a little more seriously, and probably not fought him in his fourth fight back. He probably would have fought Moorer first and then fought Holy.

 

No matter what Tyson did he still would have lost.

 

Problem is, Moorer was a good fighter but would've been mere cannon fodder, even for a sloppy Tyson.
He'd stand & trade, there to be hit & get his chin shattered.

Which would leave Tyson still severely rusty for Holyfield.

 

That's quite believable, Tyson also said he only trained for 2 weeks for the Savarese fight, yet he looked in better physical condition there.

 

Doubtful Tyson only trained 2 weeks for a professional fight.

You can't even be ready to run a competitive track event with only two weeks training starting at scratch.

 

I don't know. Tyson was a career high at 222 lbs for Holyfield. He trained harder and looked in better shape for Bruno and Seldon. it seemed like he took them more seriously.

 

The important thing to note is the lack of muscle definition on his body, & the low stamina indicating lack of roadwork, i reckon he mainly did weight-lifting for this fight, hence the muscular arms.

The 222lbs in itself isn't a problem, Tyson was a supremely conditioned 221lbs of muscle against Tucker & Berbick.

 

I'd like to see a bit more verification that Tyson had " only trained two weeks for the Holyfield fight. " That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration considering that this was the biggest fight of his career.. Larry Holmes was genuinely washed up when Tyson faced him, but that didn't stop Mike from training.. I think that we're doing a lot of trouble shooting, by speculating that he wasn't taking Evander seriously.. In any event, Holyfield was the one who was at a greater disadvantage, regardless of what Tyson and his people thought... He was 34 years old, inactive for most of the previous 2 years, and looked dreadful against Riddick Bowe and Bobby Cycz, yet still won that first fight in dominant fashion...

Incidentally, even if Tyson didn't take Evander seriously in their first meeting, then he certainly knew what he was up against the second time around, and was still getting schooled up until the ear biting scene.

 

1)true it was the biggest fight of his career but that was a different tyson in a lot of ways than the tyson that fought holmes. the dedication and love for training was clearly gone

as to the 2 weeks, benitez only trained 10 days for the biggest fight of his career against leonard. some guys just don't love training and have more faith in natural talent than they shoud

2)i agree. really, THAT tyson would loss to any confident and dedicated holyfield before 99 imo

 

This is basically what I was getting at. Muscle weighs more than fat, but to be at your career high and look less defined than the previous fights says something. Remember, he fought Holyfield exactly 2 months after Seldon, an opponent Tyson took more seriously.

 

Being partially unprepared is still a weakness in a fighters game. It is a factor with fighters and is always a consideration before a fight.

 

I disagree.

I think fights with both Foreman and Bowe would've drawn bigger money, certainly before Bowe's rematch with Golota. At that time, they were the ones drawing the attention...Tyson-Foreman in particular was being discussed for absolutely crazy money. Just go and take a look at reports at the time for the interest in those two guys vs Tyson.

Now, Tyson-Holy was a lot easier to set up, definitely, and it was a big fight. But I don't think I could call it the 'biggest in boxing' in 1996, not the biggest even at heavyweight, no.

Holyfield, people still loved, but before November '96 so many thought he should have never came back from the Moorer loss. The appetite for watching him fight Tyson was lacking in comparison because a lot thought he'd get blown-out quickly or last a few then suffer the mid-rounds stamina fade that had plagued him recently.