If Tyson and Holyfield fought in 1991, who would have won?

[Boxing56]

If both fighters fought in 91, like they were supposed to, who do you think would have won?

I know Holyfield, despite being champion, was still being called the underdog despite knocking out Douglas, who knocked out Tyson.

[Dip_Slide]

Tyson was already past his best in 91, go watch how he struggled with Razor Ruddock and how not sharp he was, he was still mentally suffering from the KO loss and his life was a total mess, Holyfield on the other hand was a quick determined sharp young man, I say Holyfield would've won in a classic battle,cI think in 88,89 Tyson would win though.

[jiopsi]

Tyson quite easily.

[BKM-]

That would be a different fight. Tyson was still a 12 round fighter at that point, in fact he could slug in a tough war for 12 as we saw against Ruddock.

Holyfield should win on point if he uses all of his skills but he got almost knocked out of the ring by Bert Cooper, struggled with Stewart and Holmes(both crushed by Tyson), the former two because Evander couldn't resist slugging.

I think Holyfield has too much pride, he's gonna trade with Tyson and get into trouble. Keep in mind in 96/97 Holyfield had been humbled many times by brutal losses and fought Mike with his brains. In 91 he's still undefeated and hasn't gotten over his bad habbits yet. I'd say Tyson wins because Evander beats himself.

[juggernaut666]

Tysons replacement Bert Cooper who fought like a Tyson style almost knocked out the then smaller Holyfield. Tyson was quicker with better movement in 91 than he was in 96/97. He also considered Razor Ruddock more dangerous than Holyfield and if Ruddock couldn't hurt Tyson with everything he threw ,Holyfield isn't going to do much. holyfield was very susceptible to uppercuts then,if Tyson wobbled him like Cooper did ,it would be all over because Tyson would never let him off the hook. motivation is the biggest factor here because that's what Tyson thrived on, he seemed to somewhat lose that edge of focus in the ring moreso in the late 90's and focused doing crazy things outside of it . Holyfield I believe was not as motivated as Tyson for that fight in 1991, Tyson pressed for king to make that fight while Holyfield when he became champ with his win over douglas dragged his feet all of a sudden,a nd fought foreman.

The 1991 Tyson vs Holyfield of 1996 would be very interesting because Holyfield was in supreme conditioning and a bit stronger, he trained for the fight of his life against Tyson because that's the reason he became a heavyweight to defeat him.



Tyson 1991 vs Holyfield 1991 Tyson by 6 rnd k.o



The below article shows who wanted to fight.



Tyson`s Mess Gives Holyfield A Way Out


October 27, 1991|By WALLACE MATTHEWS, Newsday


In the murky pond that is professional boxing, there are many types of ducks. There are lame ducks, like Bill Cayton trying to enforce his contract with Mike Tyson. There are sitting ducks, like Tommy Morrison hung up on the ropes against Ray Mercer. There are ducks that go quack-quack-quack, like Don King near a microphone.

And then, there is the kind of duck that Evander Holyfield and his camp are trying to pull on Tyson. Make no mistake about it, the undisputed heavyweight champion and his think-tank are indisputably ducking the No. 1 contender.

Friends, we have been looking in the wrong places for our villains, for lack of a better term. It`s easy to point a finger at Caesars Palace and fun to dump on TVKO and, of course, no one wants to exonerate Don King of anything short of kidnaping the Lindbergh baby.

But the Real Deal, it seems, is this: The Holyfield camp wants no part of a Tyson fight. Never did. If they really wanted it, they would have found a way to make it happen. Not only didn`t they do that, it was Dan Duva, Holyfield`s promoter, who threw in the towel.

Consider the facts: In July, Team Evander -- Duva and manager Shelly Finkel -- announced they were on the verge of signing for a rematch with George Foreman, whom Holyfield had decisioned in April. They had made a $15 million offer to King for a Tyson fight, which had been rejected. Never, thundered King, would he allow Tyson to accept such a paltry offer, especially since the charisma-less champ was getting $30 million.

But behind the scenes Tyson was pressuring King to make the Holyfield fight at any cost and backing up his pressure by cultivating a friendship with Harold Smith, who was interested in replacing King as Tyson`s latest Svengali.

[Scott9945]

Holyfield was never afraid of Tyson and could take his punch and return fire. He would have been a convincing winner in 1991 as well.

[The Old LefHook]

I believe Tyson never had the heart to beat Holyfield. Tyson never beat a great fighter in their prime. Not impossible, but unlikely.

[AlexKid]

Tyson couldn't KO Holyfield, which means he had to box him to a points victory, and he wasnt as good as that as Holyfield is.

[Anthony342]

Holyfield was never afraid of Tyson and could take his punch and return fire. He would have been a convincing winner in 1991 as well.

Agreed. It would be a lot like the first Holyfield/Bowe fight. Both guys get hit with monstrous shots and get wobbled, but it goes the distance, except Holyfield comes out on top in a close one. If they fought more than once, I see Tyson winning a rematch by a close decision or late TKO with Holyfield stopped against the ropes and then fighting again in a classic trilogy.

[boxingnut712]

I think Evander Holyfield wins.