Holyfield Gives Wilder Slight Edge To Beat Stiverne

By Ryan Burton

Four-time heavyweight world champion Evander "Real Deal" Holyfield feels that the January 17th WBC heavyweight title fight between Bermane Stiverne and Deontay Wilder is a very competitive fight.  He does lean towards the challenger Wilder slighty because of the Alabama native's reach and hand speed advantage.
 
"I think it's an even match up. I would give an edge to Wilder because he's a fast, quick fighter who gets his hands off. When you're that big and get your hands off, you hurt somebody. You hurt them and they can't recover."

"He's got the hand speed and that reach advantage and still fights that amateur style which is great. You fight amateur and you learn to fight the best way. A lot of these guys turn pro and fall into the pro style and tend to get lazy," said Holyfield.

The 52-year-old summed the fight up by simply saying the longer the match went on, the more it would favor Stiverne.

"If it's a quick fight, it's Wilder. If it's a long grueling fight then it's the other guy because one guy isn't proven having to fight over the long haul," Holyfield told BoxingScene.com.

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