Who was better?Tyson or Holyfield?

[Imira]

I really don't like this talk about "Tyson wasn't in his prime" when they fought. The truth is, he came out of jail a young man. During the first phase of his career, nobody was able to touch him, and no physical damage happened to him while he was in prison (unless you think he got beaten up lol). When he got out of prison, he was a young man who did not have any physical damage inflicted on him, there is no way he could have been past his prime. The problem is that for the most part he fought nobodies who were scared stiff of him. Razor Ruddock went the distance with a prime Mike Tyson, what happened when Razor Ruddock fought Lennox Lewis? When he blew away Peter McNeilly in the first round everyone was shouting "Iron Mike is back" but as soon as Holyfield beat him later on people started making excuses for him. Holyfield on the other hand, in the early part of his career was in absolute wars. By the time he fought Tyson, he had taken much more physical abuse and was four years older. Holyfield was farther past his prime than Tyson when they fought. As far as losing Rooney, Tyson has had legendary trainers to look after him every step of the way, that does not even come close to a good excuse.

Sometimes, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's saying things like this...

[kapersky]

I really don't like this talk about "Tyson wasn't in his prime" when they fought. The truth is, he came out of jail a young man. During the first phase of his career, nobody was able to touch him, and no physical damage happened to him while he was in prison (unless you think he got beaten up lol). When he got out of prison, he was a young man who did not have any physical damage inflicted on him, there is no way he could have been past his prime. The problem is that for the most part he fought nobodies who were scared stiff of him. Razor Ruddock went the distance with a prime Mike Tyson, what happened when Razor Ruddock fought Lennox Lewis? When he blew away Peter McNeilly in the first round everyone was shouting "Iron Mike is back" but as soon as Holyfield beat him later on people started making excuses for him. Holyfield on the other hand, in the early part of his career was in absolute wars. By the time he fought Tyson, he had taken much more physical abuse and was four years older. Holyfield was farther past his prime than Tyson when they fought. As far as losing Rooney, Tyson has had legendary trainers to look after him every step of the way, that does not even come close to a good excuse.

we all know from the day tyson fired rooney he was fare away from
his prime, no movement at all. his movement was maybe his most important skill beside power and he lost it. and he had a weak mentally aswell. when you break him once he will fold everything. i still think(though i am almost sure he wasent his psysically shape after seen all documentary about him but still..)he could win over douglas if he had stronger mentally.

its true holyfield was in absolute wars before tyson-fight. but he had stronger mentally and those lost he had didnt broke him and he didnt had big trouble outside the ring. he was maybe in his greatest shape physically vs tyson. i am not saying holyfield is a bad boxer i just think that there was a lot of boxer back then that could win/ko tyson so by that said tyson wasent like his prime(invincible) but he was still very good like when ko bruno.

[Floydmayweather]

I say its a toss up. A prime Tyson would have beat Holyfield and i guess im a little biased. I dont like holyfeild and feel he gets away with lots of dirty **** and even wins some fights because of his head butting in the ring.

[czars_salad]

I say its a toss up. A prime Tyson would have beat Holyfield and i guess im a little biased. I dont like holyfeild and feel he gets away with lots of dirty **** and even wins some fights because of his head butting in the ring.

head butts, elbows, and rabbit punches

[Southpaw16]

What about Buster Douglas?

This Tyson myth was started when he terrorized the division in eighties, and people are still determined to keep it going, when it has been proven time and time again that Tyson simply wasn't as good as everyone thought he was. This is what I mean by people being so eager to make excuses for Mike Tyson. There is no other boxer in the entire history of the sport who would be able to have his losses blamed on a trainer being fired. The reason why is because that type of blame is ridiculous, the boxer goes into the ring and fights the match, not the trainer. Seriously, people would not make those excuses for any other fighter in the history of boxing!! The excuses being made for Tyson are: he was past his prime at age 25, he fired his trainer. Tyson is simply a boxer who was great and devastating against mediocre opposition, and not so good against the top level opponents. That is his legacy. As far as the argument about his footwork being gone when he left Rooney, in his early round KOs against Bruce Seldon and Frank Bruno leading up to the Holyfield fight, his footwork looked every bit the same as it did before he went to jail. It didn't look as good in the Holyfield fight because Holyfield was battering him around. His last few fights can be blamed on him being passed his prime because he is actually in his late 30s now, so that is legit.

[Kid Achilles]

Southpaw,

Welcome to the forum. It's good to see a newcomer with some intelligence and common sense.

[kapersky]

ok tony tucker,berbick,smith,green all those was bum and of course he lost his trainer that didnt affect him at all he was also in his prime.

EDIT; why did holyfield got so much credit?, and not toney when he beat holyfield? who also went to heavyweight.

[Kid Achilles]

Kapersky,

You seem to have a lot of trouble understanding this but Holyfield was NOT IN HIS PRIME WHEN HE BEAT TYSON. He was further from his physical prime than Tyson was. He was considered a washed up former great with heart trouble. Very few picked him to beat Tyson.

I hope that you can see how a 34 year old former light heavyweight beating a dangerous puncher like Tyson is a lot more impressive than Toney beating up a completely shot Holyfield.

[Southpaw16]

I agree

Yeah, when Toney beat Holyfield he beat a 40 year old man who had been through several brutal wars throughout his career. It is legitimate to say that Holyfield was past his prime. Also, Holyfield went up to heavyweight, and made a long career out of beating people who massively outweighed him. If Toney sticks around the heavyweight division for the next four years, takes on all comers and consistently wins, then he will be considered as great a heavyweight as Holyfield.

[Eric Persson]

Holyfield fought better men, he beat better men and he beat Tyson. Twice. He was the better fighter, and is a step or two above Tyson.