Who was faster: Prime Holyfield or Prime Holmes?

Holmes' jab was snappier and had more velocity than any jab at HW. He had a laser like right too.

Holyfield was a tad shorter in height and had shorter but bulkier arms; hence he was faster at close range and in combinations.

Prime Holmes had amazing footwork 2nd only to prime Ali, but he became much more flat footed as he got older and gained weight using less of a stick and move style and more of a mid range counter puncher. Both versions had WAY better head movement and reflexes than any version of Holyfield who simply absorbed shots he couldn't anticipate or block and slugged it out if he was hurt.

Prime Holyfield I would say had the 3rd fastest footwork at HW--just a teensy nit slower than Holmes with less finesse. Walcott wasn't as quick as either but he was more cunning and cagey than them.

 

Disagree completely. Even if we go by "styles", plenty of people managed to stay away from prime Tyson. Tillis and Douglas being 2 of them. Tillis was a journeyman Great value wal-mart version of Ali. Douglas was a flabby boxer puncher who had struggled with Randall Tex Cobb of all people in a fight that could have gone either way.

Tyson beating the sh!% out of the fast footed Tyrell Biggs is impressive on film, but the reality is that not only is footwork literally the only thing Biggs was good at, be was very inexperienced in that fight and his promoters and managers basically threw him to the wolves for profit. There's also no telling what kind of drugs he was on (like a lot of Tyson's opponents).

Tyson's seek and destroy pitbull-like footwork looked good against flabby plodders, muscle bound sluggers, and back alley winos who Don King paid pennies to get in the ring. But against in shape skilled fighters with stamina it was fairly underwhelming. His head movement and hand speed in combinations were certainly up there tho, top 3 for sure at close range of all time.

As for Dempsey, I could say similar things only it's even worse given that his era literally had barroom brawlers in the rankings. When you duke it out with a caveman like Firpo and you win the title from a near 40 inactive overweight boxer like Willard, I again have to wonder just how impressive Jack's footwork would look against a modern boxer. It doesn't help that the film is grainy and choppy and that he doesn't have that many fights recorded in the first place.

The closest we got to a modern skilled boxer were the Tunney fights and we saw how that turned out. I don't think Jack liked facing fast guys with good ring IQ or reflexes and the fact he never faced Wills or Greb could be further prove of this. His murderous combinations and weight shifting cannot be denied tho. Although the opponent was Willard with no neutral corner, he reminded me of a prime Pacquiao firing on all cylinders with rapid fire blows.

 

Of course Douglas threw 5 piece combos at Tyson. That's what an outboxer is supposed to do. You can't stay at your preferred range simply by backing up or pivoting, you have to give the opponent a reason to not want to charge in. Tyson couldn't get to his preferred range. Hence why I said Tyson's footwork clearly can't be the most effective.

I'm aware Tyson hadn't reached his peak just yet vs Tillis but there's only so many boxers to choose from when you're trying to find matches where Tyson's footwork was put to the test. He failed that one too;,other than a flash knock down saving him from possibly getting a draw. Tillis was back on his bike and back to his preferred range.

Thomas had decent speed but he wasn't really bouncing on his toes and moving around in the bout with Tyson. He was primarily popping his piston like jab away like a poor man's sonny Liston.

I don't know why you brought up Tucker, that honestly works against your argument. He gave Tyson something to think about with that uppercut and avoided being KO'd despite having a broken hand. He didn't get the nod, but he fought like an outboxer the whole night and avoided getting nailed by too many bombs or mixing it up with Tyson at Tyson's preferred range.

So out of the 5 fleet footed foes he faced--that being Biggs, Thomas, Tucker, Tillis, and Douglas--he went 2-3 as far as his own footwork is concerned. That's a forty percent, a failing grade. It doesn't help that this was a pretty mediocre era. Not one of those names belongs in the hall of fame.

 

3rd fastest footwork at heavyweight? No way.

 

Holyfield

 

All of Holmes straights were way faster than holyfields but holyfield was faster in every other way

 

Well who do you have at #3?

 

Mendoza's Holyfield hate train is about to start here I guess.

 

I see it the same way. Holmes had the fastest single straights...but Holyfield was a way better combination puncher when it comes to mix in power punches or body punches. He also has had the ability to step in, unleash a combo and step out in 1 elegant motion.
IMO Holmes had the fastest straight Hands besides young Ali. But overall handspeed:

Dokes
Patterson
Ali
Tyson

 

Holmes

 

I feel Larry was quicker moving around the ring, quicker in establishing distance. He was much looser which allowed him to fire off the jab from the hip as he moved. It was a blinding quick punch.

Holyfield was much more poised, balanced and compact so he could cover shorter distances quicker and when he threw his punches, he generally had his feet where he wanted them so he could let his hands go. Larry might have to put the brakes on and shift his weight back if he wanted to throw the right, which takes time.

Also Evander was more backwards and forwards than Larry, who glided to the side, which requires shorter steps. Again, Larry was quicker over longer spaces but Evander's feet were very quick to shift position when he was in range, which he very often was.

 

Larry Holmes is faster.