Who was better?Tyson or Holyfield?

[El Jesus]

If they had fought b4 tyson went to jail it wouldve been a different story.

the circumstances around tyson dictate weather he would win or not. Cus/rooney Tyson destroys any heavyweight on this planet, not only would he be focused, but hed be all buisness. 91 tyson after cus and after the shock in toyko against holyfield, im not sure, i mean...looking at those razor ruddock fights, it seemed like he could go the distance and grind it out if nessecary.

[El Jesus]

I cnat believe it!!! after all this time people on boxing scene have been loving tyson holding him on high...THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS THREAD. Holyfield was the man...i am so tired of people feeling pity for tyson and saying he is good.....2 words for that....danny williams.....ha!

its not a matter of feeling pity, its a matter of understanding the logic of his circumstances, and by mentioning the danny williams fight, you also prove you really havent been reading the thread.

[RockyMarciano]

lol...screw mike tyson

[The Troll]

Mike Tyson versus Evander Holyfield...

Who was a better fighter? When was each's respective "prime"?

Mike Tyson blossomed early. He was in his prime from 1986-1988. These were his years being trained by Kevin Rooney. Before anyone makes an asinine post about trainers having nothing to do with anything....shut up. Rooney had everything to do with Mike Tyson's success. Mike doesnt trust people, and he did trust Kevin Rooney. They had a mutual respect, and Tyson hasnt really respected a trainer since then with the exception of Freddie Roach, or maybe Jeff Fenech now.

Holyfield's prime was later than Tyson's. This was partly due to his greater work ethic. Holyfield fought Rid**** Bowe in his prime. He was considered old and had a "reported" bad heart when he fought Tyson. Tyson was hyped after prison by Don King, and he was made to look unbeatable. He fought bums. McNeely was terrible. Mathis Jr was fat joke. Frank Bruno in the rematch was far from the Frank Bruno of their first fight. Bruno fought like a scared kid against Tyson in the rematch. Tyson was hyped after prison, but in reality he was far removed from his prime, much, much father from it than Holyfield was from his prime.

Had the two fought in 1991, it might have been much different, even though by that time Mike Tyson had abandoned his headmovement/defense and combination punching in exchange for mediocre one-shot headhunting.

Take a prime Mike Tyson and have him face a prime Evander Holyfield, Tyson wins via late TKO. The referee would be forced to stop the fight because Evander would take combinations to the head.

One more point: Evander gets called a small heavyweight, but really Mike Tyson was smaller. Tyson is 5'11", 216 lbs, and 71" reach in his prime. Holyfield is 6'2", around 210 lbs, and has a 77" reach. Holyfield and Tyson were both all muscle in their primes (and Holyfield still is today), and both were small heavyweights. However, Mike Tyson was even smaller.

During Holyfield's short retirement he put on tons of weight and muscle mass. When he first went to heavyweight and in his early years at heavyweight he weighed in at like 208 but he did an amamzing job conditioning himself and he actually did weigh more than Tyson by 1996 but it was all muscle mass. Compare Holyfield's pecs in 1992 and 1996 amazing difference.

[kapersky]

During Holyfield's short retirement he put on tons of weight and muscle mass. When he first went to heavyweight and in his early years at heavyweight he weighed in at like 208 but he did an amamzing job conditioning himself and he actually did weigh more than Tyson by 1996 but it was all muscle mass. Compare Holyfield's pecs in 1992 and 1996 amazing difference.

yep holyfield 1992 looks like a crusierweight and they said it was his prime?(yeah maybe little faster)
, holyfield 1996 didnt had any problem heart,size what so ever, he was 100% motivated. if he fough his prime(when he fough bowe) holyfield 1996 would win by ko no doubt. how he could put so much mass on in that short time was because he used roids.

[Southpaw16]

Mike Tyson versus Evander Holyfield...

Who was a better fighter? When was each's respective "prime"?

Mike Tyson blossomed early. He was in his prime from 1986-1988. These were his years being trained by Kevin Rooney. Before anyone makes an asinine post about trainers having nothing to do with anything....shut up. Rooney had everything to do with Mike Tyson's success. Mike doesnt trust people, and he did trust Kevin Rooney. They had a mutual respect, and Tyson hasnt really respected a trainer since then with the exception of Freddie Roach, or maybe Jeff Fenech now.

Holyfield's prime was later than Tyson's. This was partly due to his greater work ethic. Holyfield fought Rid**** Bowe in his prime. He was considered old and had a "reported" bad heart when he fought Tyson. Tyson was hyped after prison by Don King, and he was made to look unbeatable. He fought bums. McNeely was terrible. Mathis Jr was fat joke. Frank Bruno in the rematch was far from the Frank Bruno of their first fight. Bruno fought like a scared kid against Tyson in the rematch. Tyson was hyped after prison, but in reality he was far removed from his prime, much, much father from it than Holyfield was from his prime.

Had the two fought in 1991, it might have been much different, even though by that time Mike Tyson had abandoned his headmovement/defense and combination punching in exchange for mediocre one-shot headhunting.

Take a prime Mike Tyson and have him face a prime Evander Holyfield, Tyson wins via late TKO. The referee would be forced to stop the fight because Evander would take combinations to the head.

One more point: Evander gets called a small heavyweight, but really Mike Tyson was smaller. Tyson is 5'11", 216 lbs, and 71" reach in his prime. Holyfield is 6'2", around 210 lbs, and has a 77" reach. Holyfield and Tyson were both all muscle in their primes (and Holyfield still is today), and both were small heavyweights. However, Mike Tyson was even smaller.

Actually I'm going to once again repeat that firing a trainer is not an excuse for losing a fight, regardless of how asinine you think the comments are. Name one other fighter in the history of boxing who you would blame his losses on a trainer being fired. The mutual trust and respect thing is complete BS, Tyson also supposedly had a great relationship with Ronnie Shields before he was knocked out by Lennox Lewis. In fact at the time he is with the trainers, Tyson always supposedly has a great relationship with them. Of course once he is exposed for the one millionth time, Tyson fans blame it on him not having Rooney in his corner. And it isn't like Rooney died a tragic death, Tyson fired his *ss. Why would he fire him if there was so much trust and respect? Let me guess, here comes a Don King conspiracy theory. In that case, why hasn't he at any point in his long career rehired Rooney if Rooney is such a fvkin miracle man? And Tyson winning a late round TKO against Holyfield?!! There is no way in a million years Tyson could ever even win late rounds against Holyfield, at any point in his career, much less knock him out.

[The Troll]

yep holyfield 1992 looks like a crusierweight and they said it was his prime?(yeah maybe little faster)
, holyfield 1996 didnt had any problem heart,size what so ever, he was 100% motivated. if he fough his prime(when he fough bowe) holyfield 1996 would win by ko no doubt. how he could put so much mass on in that short time was because he used roids.

Actually I was wrong that Holyfield was bigger than Tyson when they fought. In the first fight Holyfield weighed in at 215 Tyson weighed in at 222.

[kapersky]

Actually I was wrong that Holyfield was bigger than Tyson when they fought. In the first fight Holyfield weighed in at 215 Tyson weighed in at 222.

but all those few weight was fat, tyson never looks so "soft" in any fight beside vs douglas. from his legs to his body was all fat not the usually bone and muscle mass. his hand(biceps) still looks good but overall he looks fat/soft. in douglas fight, douglas who usually looks fat and soft looks much harder or better train than tyson. tyson didnt train for his style, he is shorter he must have the movement if not he got ko prime or not. from the day he fired rooney he didnt train like he used to or sparr, like he used to. if you are not toney with his defence you got to train harder and be in best shape psycally and mentally, tyson didnt had either of them. i am not saying prime tyson would ko holyfield easy, he would still had to work all the fight and eventually win the fight. i still think holyfield 1996 was his prime, i mean who did he beat?, tillis after fough tyson for years, holmes far away from prime, and old foreman. but vs bowe he got knock down and won over a fat bowe. but after his heart condition he fough and won over mercer, tyson, moorer, and gave hard rematch against lewis. this is what i think is holyfields prime
when he fough at crusierweiht there was his prime, and around 1995-1999 and not like everybody say 1992 ()

[EXIGE]

Tyson is better than Hollyfield end of. Its not all about the paper and even if it was Tyson would win.

[The Italian Stallion]

Why do people still ask this question?
All Mikey T. could do is brawl, Holyfield could brawl and box.

Mikey never fought Bowe, remember that.