Without PED would Evander Holyfield have been as successul in the heavyweight division as was?

Unfortunately it was true. In the late 90's when Lou Duva visited my football coach he mentioned that most of the young guys wanted to take shortcuts in their training and that Holyfield despite his talent was too smart for his own good, since he would cut camps short and reduce his training plans because he figured at his level he knew exactly how much he needed to train.

Here is Holyfield's take on this matter in 1994, since he was aware of what some of his trainers and handlers thought about his work ethic at times.

"Back in 1987, when my licence was suspended due to heart problems, I came to the hospital for testing and everything checked out fine,' he said. 'But the older I got, it became more of a struggle each time I trained. Some people said I was lazy. I learned to never admit that I was tired, but deep down inside, I knew something was wrong. It got to the point where I couldn't hold my hands up. I'm happy in one way - at least I know what the problem is."
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ht-champion-retires-after-doctor-1372851.html

 

Heart problems my arse, Holyfield's ticker was fine and dandy.

 

The only problem with this statement is that steroids are very unpredictable and don't have the same level of effectiveness for everyone. I seen this first hand when I played high school football and college Basketball, but even in many other athletes that I've known personally from other sports, which included quite a few boxers. Also, every steroid comes with shortcomings, which is why guys have to stack several steroids in hope of achieving something close to their desired result, which doesn't always happen.

To make matters worse Boxing isn't like track, cycling, or swimming where you just have to be faster. Boxing has a lot of subtleties involved that packing on more size and messing with the cardiovascular system can hinder. A buddy of mine, who was a few years ahead of me trained with Haney and Hatfield around the same time Holyfield did and was being pressured by his football coach and team manager to put on size or be dropped, since he was a 6'3" 270 lb Nose Tackle, but they wanted him at 300+ and in less than 8 weeks. Haney and Hatfield succeeded in helping him put on the size, but later in his career he had similar nerve damage issues as Holyfield started showing signs of in his late 30's to early 40's.

 

Don Turner whom "trained "him for a few fights said he was better when he was "smaller".

 

Lachbuster says bodyweight has no effect on punch resistance.

 

And you think it's because of a heart problem? Hahaha.

 

He took blows off Foreman and Bowe whilst weighing 205lb and 208lb, those two obviously couldn't break the skin of rice pudding......

 

As far as I know Evander never tested positive. This is about a part of his body building up and not about a test? He gained weight and worked out. I am not sure accusing someone of something without proof is fair to him. Of all the guy in boxing, he was probably the guy with the biggest heart.

 

I have to add. I don't really like Evander's personality, but his fighting heart. When he was hurt with Bert Cooper, a smaller guy he hung in there when anyone else would have been out of there.

 

Micheal Moorer did do the same after tbh.

 

Moorer was more of a flash being hurt, Evander was pretty much out of there. Not to compare being hurt, but Evander was out on his feet.. I remember Moorer sagged yet to me was not out of on his feet.