How well does Holyfield do in this era of heavys?

[beez721]

When he first entered the big boys division for years everyone referred to him as a blown up cruiser.

If one looks at Evander objectively he has speed, a first rate chin, but his greatest asset that would really make him dominant is his activity level. Holyfield was able to swarm in Armstrong like fashion. He wore down opposition consistantly. I can't see most of this era able to deal with this level of activity because even if Evander gets cracked occasionally he has those whiskers of stone.

There is one more interesting thing about Holyfield. He is a very aggressive fighter who prefers to mix it up, but....when he wanted to make a statement he also showed that he is one of the most coachable, adaptable fighters: In beating Bowe he was told by his corner to box and not engage, which is how he won the fight he took from Bowe. When he fought Tyson he was also instructed to proceed a certain way in pushing Tyson back on his heels, which he was able to do despite the desire to just mix it up.

yea,,,holyfield could adapt to any style. thats why id easily favor holyfield over any of the top dogs today. like you said,,,terrific work rate,,,great chin and could slug or play it smart and box and move. he was a tremendous fighter

[kiDynamite92]

I fuucking hate Holyfield. I wish Tyson bit his nose off instead.

That being said you gotta give credit where it's due. He'd be the Undisputed and Lineal heavyweight champion with ease. He knocks Wlad out and beat any version of Vitali on points.

He fought Lewis when he was way past it, had it been a few years earlier I reckon he would have beaten Lewis. Bowe was just a bad stylistic match up for him.

[BOXEO _]

The only ones I can see beating him are Wilder and Fury.

He'd beat the crap out of Wlad and take his belts.

[billeau2]

I fuucking hate Holyfield. I wish Tyson bit his nose off instead.

That being said you gotta give credit where it's due. He'd be the Undisputed and Lineal heavyweight champion with ease. He knocks Wlad out and beat any version of Vitali on points.

He fought Lewis when he was way past it, had it been a few years earlier I reckon he would have beaten Lewis. Bowe was just a bad stylistic match up for him.

The nose? If Mike had bitten something else off he would have been doing a great service to the "bastard maker."

[bojangles1987]

Evander was well past it when he had a close fight in a rematch with Lennox Lewis, who was past his prime when he punched half of Vital Klitschko's face off.

I'd pick Holyfield over every heavyweight today. He's not just a great heavyweight, he's one of the great fighters boxing ever saw.

[kafkod]

He'd be top 5 but no way would he be champ.

The weight he was when he first moved up to HW he wouldn't be big or powerful enough to make any impression on the likes of the Klit bros.

After he beefed up to around 16 st he had more power and physical strength, but he slowed down a lot and they would both use him for target practice.

[1lparm]

He'd be top 5 but no way would he be champ.

The weight he was when he first moved up to HW he wouldn't be big or powerful enough to make any impression on the likes of the Klit bros.

After he beefed up to around 16 st he had more power and physical strength, but he slowed down a lot and they would both use him for target practice.

So many people ignore his lack of size and weak punch. He was a volume puncher that didn't have the pop to take you out with one shot and sometimes not enough to get respect until the punch count racked up. Vitali has an ATG chin a world class jab and more determination than anyone Holy has seen.

I think Holy does massive damage to everyone except the Klits and I'd lean to Wlad on a close MD or UD win.

Against Vitali no version of Holyfield survives he'd be bodybagged.

[Ray Corso]

"bodybagged"..................this is boxing sonny we don't talk that way about any competitor let alone an ATG one. Grow up!

[1lparm]

"bodybagged"..................this is boxing sonny we don't talk that way about any competitor let alone an ATG one. Grow up!

Don't call me sonny I've been here on and off for 7 years you are the new kid. And it's a possible scenario that Vitali splatters Holy. If the likes of Bowe and Toney could wreck him then a top 10 ATG heavy like Vitali puts a beating on him.

[Elroy1]

- Vitali's resume is better than Holyfield's and everybody knows it. Specifically, the quality of opponents overall is roughly the same, but Holyfield's is peppered with losses and struggles whereas Vitali's was one of absolute dominance. Please note the 10lb average size difference between Vitali's and Holy's opponents, as well as the more superior records of VK's list too.

- Wladimir's resume is higher quality all around.

- Vitali (and Wlad) managed to waste all their opponents whilst Holy couldn't. Holyfield only managed to KO 1 really good opponent in Tyson.

- Holyfield realistically could not even fight the Klitschko's properly. We are talking about Holyfield most likely getting knocked out by both like never before, and we are also talking about Holyfield not winning more than 2 or 3 rounds.

- As for the rest of the division, his chances are high against each individually but over a sample of them (like a career in this era), he loses often enough.

- If you put Holyfield against Wlad or Vitali's resume, he struggles about as much, if not a bit more, as he did his own opponents.

- If you put either Klitschko against Holyfields opponents they utterly dominate and knock most of them out.