Larry Holmes defence was very underrated.

[thebrownbomber_]

Evander Holyfield's defense might not have been as pretty in their fights, but he certainly had the best defense Tyson faced. In all of their 14 a 15 rounds in the ring, he really only landed 1 hard clean hit that hurt Evander and that was the very first punch Tyson threw in fight 1 in the opening seconds. After Holy tasted his power and knew he could take it, he pretty much dodged, muffled and leaned with anything Tyson threw even his best combo's. He didn't have a mark on his face after the fights other than missing parts of his ears.

This has more to do with his chin than his defense. And in round 5 tyson had holyfield stunned and seemingly in trouble but holyfield took it pretty well and rallied back the next round. Holyfields main defense was smothering tyson up close and then pushing him back as he had become much stronger in the 90s, physically.

I think the first fight was honestly pretty underrated. The two went neck and neck for the first 6 rounds till tyson mentally seemed to give up and gas out.

[thebrownbomber_]

Even coming out of 2 years retirement and fighting peak Tyson, he had masterful positioning and got hit the least in 4 rounds of any opponent 80s Tyson fought. His inactivity leaked eventually but still...

Tyson did credit him as having the best defence of any fighter he fought.

People always bring Up Mayweather but Holmes was also a master at defence. And Maweather rates Holmes in the top 3 for a reason...

Holmes defense was deceptively frustrating. Watch the Mercer fight.

[thebrownbomber_]

And a lot of heart and stubbornness.

This guy would try to get back up to fight if you just shot gunned half of his head off.

Yup. I just wish casuals wouldn’t underrate him just because he had to do what did against ali. And also his fight with tyson being billed as some insane revenge story leads him to being underrated.

He had the heart, conditioning, and skills to be a head to head nightmare for a good majority of heavyweights.

[automaton89]

Holmes defense was deceptively frustrating. Watch the Mercer fight.

When is the picture from in your avatar? Nice

[thebrownbomber_]

When is the picture from in your avatar? Nice

2000.

[them_apples]

This has more to do with his chin than his defense. And in round 5 tyson had holyfield stunned and seemingly in trouble but holyfield took it pretty well and rallied back the next round. Holyfields main defense was smothering tyson up close and then pushing him back as he had become much stronger in the 90s, physically.

I think the first fight was honestly pretty underrated. The two went neck and neck for the first 6 rounds till tyson mentally seemed to give up and gas out.

He hadn’t become much stronger in the 90s. You only might think this because he weighs more. He was wooping Tyson in sparring even in the olympics. Holyfield at his peak is early mid 90s.

the Holyfield Tyson faced was tough, not scared of him and fought inside all night, a Style Tyson cannot deal with. Tyson although he was a short fighter - for some reason avoided inside fighting.

so he got smothered all night. On top of him being burnt out from drugs.

the second fight Mike is likely on roids and lost his temper - resulting in a missing ear. Mike also had a thing w replicating old fighters, and ear biting is a thing.

[thebrownbomber_]

He hadnât become much stronger in the 90s. You only might think this because he weighs more. He was wooping Tyson in sparring even in the olympics. Holyfield at his peak is early mid 90s.

the Holyfield Tyson faced was tough, not scared of him and fought inside all night, a Style Tyson cannot deal with. Tyson although he was a short fighter - for some reason avoided inside fighting.

so he got smothered all night. On top of him being burnt out from drugs.

the second fight Mike is likely on roids and lost his temper - resulting in a missing ear. Mike also had a thing w replicating old fighters, and ear biting is a thing.

I disagree with every bit of this post, respectfully. Holyfield did become much stronger in the 1990s, them 20lbs he gained from Bowe to Tyson 1996 wasn’t flabby slab, it was rock solid muscle. He legit looked like a bodybuilder in that rematch. The “whooping tyson claims” are all unsubstantiated nonsense. By both fighters admissions, people were getting in the ring to separate the two as they started going harder and harder. Stories are stories and claims are claims. We don’t have any video footage of that sparring so we do not know.



Now, on to their 1996 fight. There are several things that people forget, many of whom only watched the fight once. That is:
1. Tyson was very ill prepared, both physically and mentally, having been out of the ring for 3 years and only having actually trained for the Bruno rematch. But more than the fact that Tyson had only trained two weeks for that fight (entirely his fault), holyfield had trained for 17 weeks in the mountains like a hungry dog. (One of the reasons I love holyfeild so much was his work ethic).
2. Holyfield fought Tyson NOTHING like how he fought Bowe. Holyfield traded in the pocket and midrange with Bowe. Holyfield smothered all of Tysons inside attacks and then pushed him back and beat him to the punch. Rounds 1-5 were dead even and could have gone either way. These were the rounds where Holyfield was smothering Tyson a bit less and trading with him, and Tyson was landing some bombs. This fight was better than most remember it being. Holyfield was a heavy volume puncher who often got into wars in the 90s. He avoided doing that with Tyson.

Tyson had the skills and smarts and heart to beat holyfield. What he lacked was the mental fortitude. I personally think 91 tyson vs holyfield would be an instant classic but I think Tyson would edge it and even drop holyfield, but It could go either way. Same peak for peak. However, I do think 96 holyfield beats any version of Tyson.

[QueensburyRules]

Evander Holyfield's defense might not have been as pretty in their fights, but he certainly had the best defense Tyson faced. In all of their 14 a 15 rounds in the ring, he really only landed 1 hard clean hit that hurt Evander and that was the very first punch Tyson threw in fight 1 in the opening seconds. After Holy tasted his power and knew he could take it, he pretty much dodged, muffled and leaned with anything Tyson threw even his best combo's. He didn't have a mark on his face after the fights other than missing parts of his ears.

- - It was a slugfest Tyson jumped out early. Fight turned on a classic Field headbutt.

unlike Rocky, Mike reacted poorly and the rest Field butt history.

Ironically Tubster Lar laid open Field early with an elbow before Field could butt him open, so now Field struggled to go the distance

[them_apples]

I disagree with every bit of this post, respectfully. Holyfield did become much stronger in the 1990s, them 20lbs he gained from Bowe to Tyson 1996 wasn’t flabby slab, it was rock solid muscle. He legit looked like a bodybuilder in that rematch. The “whooping tyson claims” are all unsubstantiated nonsense. By both fighters admissions, people were getting in the ring to separate the two as they started going harder and harder. Stories are stories and claims are claims. We don’t have any video footage of that sparring so we do not know.



Now, on to their 1996 fight. There are several things that people forget, many of whom only watched the fight once. That is:
1. Tyson was very ill prepared, both physically and mentally, having been out of the ring for 3 years and only having actually trained for the Bruno rematch. But more than the fact that Tyson had only trained two weeks for that fight (entirely his fault), holyfield had trained for 17 weeks in the mountains like a hungry dog. (One of the reasons I love holyfeild so much was his work ethic).
2. Holyfield fought Tyson NOTHING like how he fought Bowe. Holyfield traded in the pocket and midrange with Bowe. Holyfield smothered all of Tysons inside attacks and then pushed him back and beat him to the punch. Rounds 1-5 were dead even and could have gone either way. These were the rounds where Holyfield was smothering Tyson a bit less and trading with him, and Tyson was landing some bombs. This fight was better than most remember it being. Holyfield was a heavy volume puncher who often got into wars in the 90s. He avoided doing that with Tyson.

Tyson had the skills and smarts and heart to beat holyfield. What he lacked was the mental fortitude. I personally think 91 tyson vs holyfield would be an instant classic but I think Tyson would edge it and even drop holyfield, but It could go either way. Same peak for peak. However, I do think 96 holyfield beats any version of Tyson.

Looking like a body builder doesn’t mean he got stronger. Against anyone else in those days Holyfield looked worse than the 90s. He shouldn’t get an upgraded pass for Tyson.

[Ivich]

Looking like a body builder doesnât mean he got stronger. Against anyone else in those days Holyfield looked worse than the 90s. He shouldnât get an upgraded pass for Tyson.

Why do you think Holyfield added the weight?