Would Holyfield Have A Chance Against Sonny Liston?

i am not sure on this one but i bet it would be a long hard dirty fight, i suppose the longer it goes i might edge toward holyfield

 

Classic combo

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3oyrq4Q5gM[/ame]

 

Liston had better skills than Foreman and was not a wide open swinger. They were both slow but Sonny had better stamina than Foreman.

They were both dangerous early, Foreman ran out of gas and confidence not heart. Liston and Tyson have the Fear me Fear factor they were both tough but when the other guy showed no fear they had a conversion and gave up on there own terms.

Duran was a brave warrior but wanted to lose on his terms not Leonard's in the battle of no-mas.

The mind is a powerful thing

I was surprised to see Evander get stopped by James Toney but I never seen anyone go after Evander to the body like James did.

Sonny Liston was a dangerous fighter and the fighters that would beat him were the ones with mental strength but there have been less than a handful in the last 100 years....mental strength was one of Ali's best assets, It was also Marciano's strength....

Evander showed mental strength in his battle with Quawi and Tyson but I am not sure if he could beat Liston, Liston was better than Bowe but one of the things that would give Evander a boast was his mental strength

 

Bingo. thumbsup

Liston and Tyson are bullies with no heart - they NEED teh power of fear or they will lose. Holyfeild knows no fear - so Tyson and Liston cannot beat him.

With Tyson, everyone he fought was scared and very fearful of him except for Buster, Holyfield x2, Lewis, Williams And McBride - those guys stood up to him - refusing to be intimidated and controlled by fear, so his confidence crumbled and he lost mental + physical control. With Liston it was teh same thing, except teh guys who showed to fear when facing him were Marshall, Ali x2 And Martin.

 

Yes he does. Holyfield proved that he can survive big punchers assaults and fight back (Bowe, Lewis). Prime Liston isn't tested in long fights over 10th round as Holyfield is and I belive that there is a little chance of Liston finishing Evander early. Sonny's jab is powerful but Holy's is faster and sharper - this could neautralize Liston's attacks a bit.

On the inside Liston is the stronger fighter and more dangerous but Evander also knows how to be effective while being close. I believe that this is close and exciting fight just like Holyfield-Bowe and the victory could go to either sides. In 10 fights between them I give Sonny 6 and Evander 4.

 

These "Spineless Bullies" are former Heavyweight Champions.

Not Alpha Champs, but real legit All Time Great Heavyweight Champions.


As for the post, I initially favored Liston but the more and more I thought about it Holyfield has the handspeed and lateral movement to turn the tides late possibly forcing a late stoppage. It won't be easy for Evander because Liston's jab will disrupt his rhythm throughout the fight but I see Evander difference in handspeed will win the day.

 

Totally agree with you on this one here. Liston has skill compared to Foreman. Foreman was just a lumbering tree trunk with freakish power in his early days.

Even in 1974, Ali had something similar to say about Liston compared to Foreman, "He hit harder than George, he had a longer reach than George, he was a better boxer than George...". Ali made note of this in a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria. Now, knowing Ali you'd have to take a grain of salt with this since Ali loved to play showman/emcee when a media crowd was in front of him.

 

If Tyson invoked psalm 71 Holy would have been cool with the bite, he was actually just pissed Tyson was being a soothsaying heathen motha'****er. :rofl

 

I guess the standards are quite low for heavyweights.

 

:deal

Only quibble with the above:

It might not get anywhere near the halfway point.

If Holy brawls early, he has an early night.

 

Yeah, especially since it was apart of the pre-fight of the Ali-Foreman fight.

 

The cop remark wasn't one of Suzie's finest moments.

No offense Suzie.

 

This is one of several Holyfield vs. Liston threads floating around. Anyway, Holyfield breaks Liston down and stops him late.

Prime vs. Prime...

Holyfield is taller, they are close in weight, and Liston has a longer reach.

Holyfield has quicker hands and feet, has better footwork, a higher workrate, a better chin, and is stronger... but Liston is strong as well.

Liston may have more single shot power but Holyfield has good power as well.

Liston throws more jabs and his jab is hard. Holyfield has dealt with guys with long hard jabs before... these guys were also very tall, Liston isn't.

When you are shorter and have to punch up it takes a little something off of the reach and a little something off of the power on the punch. Taller guys like prime Douglas, Foreman, Bowe, Lewis, etc. are tall, have long reaches, and good power. Liston was a tad under 6'1".

This isn't some smaller guy Liston will be able to manhandle like Patterson x2 (190-195Lbs) or Folley (195-200Lbs).

Liston had some trouble with good but not very big HWs like Machen (Machen was actually very good but about 195Lbs), Marty Marshall (about 180Lbs), and Johnny Summerlin x2 (about 195Lbs).

Holyfield is lightyears ahead of Cleveland Williams (Liston beat him KO3 and KO2), an old Nino Valdes (or a young one for that matter... Liston beat an old Valdes KO3).

IMO, Liston gets overrated on this forum. I agree he is an all-time great, but at least 5 spots behind Holyfield.

 

I really think that's debatable. Liston is naturally stronger. Holyfield worked with weights and was a body builder his whole life. if Liston had the weight program Holyfield had, he would be as much as a marvel physically that Holyfield was. and if he had access to the roids holyfield had. (i don't know this for sure but it's certainly a possibility.)

 

Do you mean guys like Johnny Summerlin x2 and Marty Marshall?