What active heavyweight has the best shot at beating a prime Evander Holyfield?

[New England]

A few on the list have a shot but one thing Holyfield could do in his prime was throw punches, get inside & the headbutts were always a threat. Holyfield could take a big punch too. His ability to headbutt without getting caught was remarkable. He could throw a guy right off his game plan & anger them so they start making mistakes. He lost a few good prime years to health issues but still a great fighter. The HWs are so big now so it is tough to compare eras. Just like any other sport. The players are bigger, faster, stronger, have better nutrition & better drugs, medical procedures are better to help recover & rehab injuries quicker, etc...

riddick bowe would be close to joshua's size if he got on the "cough" program and lifted weights like a lot of these guys. joshua's bones aren't really all that big if you know what you're looking at. he's got a built up body for sure.


100% that kind of muscle would be fatigued, if not totally useless, in the 10th round of a bowe - holyfield fight.


let's also talk about skill. bowe was a potent offensive fighter with a terrific jab. joshua looks great against guys who probably wouldn't even be in contention in the 90's, but how's he going to look against hall of famers? i just don't see the tricks. these guys can't get around the size and the power. bowe had damn near the same size, hit like a mule, and had a much more dynamic / fluid style and presentation.


if joshua's not able to dominate holyfield with his jab and clinch inside every single time he's probably going to lose. wladimir has been flattened by much, much lesser fighters than holyfield, who wasn't a titanic puncher but who knew how to keep his hands free, step to the side, and throw combinations. no way wladimir finishs the fight. holyfield woudl butt his way out of close clinches and turn wladimir into a school child.

[BlakBread904]

I voted Ortiz but only because I didn't see Wlad on the list.

Real Deal had real problems vs taller bigger guys who could keep him on the end of their jab.

[W1LL]

More than one.

[joe strong]

riddick bowe would be close to joshua's size if he got on the "cough" program and lifted weights like a lot of these guys. joshua's bones aren't really all that big if you know what you're looking at. he's got a built up body for sure.


100% that kind of muscle would be fatigued, if not totally useless, in the 10th round of a bowe - holyfield fight.


let's also talk about skill. bowe was a potent offensive fighter with a terrific jab. joshua looks great against guys who probably wouldn't even be in contention in the 90's, but how's he going to look against hall of famers? i just don't see the tricks. these guys can't get around the size and the power. bowe had damn near the same size, hit like a mule, and had a much more dynamic / fluid style and presentation.


if joshua's not able to dominate holyfield with his jab and clinch inside every single time he's probably going to lose. wladimir has been flattened by much, much lesser fighters than holyfield, who wasn't a titanic puncher but who knew how to keep his hands free, step to the side, and throw combinations. no way wladimir finishs the fight. holyfield woudl butt his way out of close clinches and turn wladimir into a school child.

I don't disagree at all. The only guy I said on that list I think could beat him was Fury. All the rest it's a crap shoot. I find it tough to compare eras...

[Scipio2009]

How does this answer the OP question? Any idea?

Even in Holyfield's prime, a big, long, athletic boxer/puncher on their game always gave Holyfield trouble.

Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and even an aging Wladimir Klitschko all give Holyfield serious trouble, and a fight against a guy like Tyson Fury (even acknowledging the reality that his punch isn't all that) would be hell on Earth for Holyfield.

[Blackclouds]

Holyfield would first have to not respect the skills of any of the tallest fighters like he did against Bowe and try to bang them out. Then that would give those that can bang at the most the best shot. AJ, Klitschko and Wilder.

I believe Holyfield would need to gameplan these guys (not just go in and prove he's a real heavyweight or whatever nonsense he was on against Bowe) and exploit weaknesses in each. So having to gameplan these guys means I'd give them the biggest shot.

The others are less likely to no shot. I can only pick one so I'm going to go with Wilder. Even though I know his weaknesses and a cruiserweight style counter puncher that can get in range gave him troubles in the amateurs (and the Haye sparring clip everybody has seen). AJ as well, susceptible counters (like the one Whyte hurt him with). Klitschko may have ducked old Holyfield and is deathly afraid of counter punchers since Corrie Sanders.

Holyfield is nice and choses his words but I can tell he thinks he could've taken these guys but I do think some of these dudes hit too hard to just take shots. Holyfield would gameplan anybody he thought could knock him out, like Mike Tyson and that's when he's at his best. Also keep in mind he ate Lennox Lewis's punches, that's a tough cookie.

[Elroy The Great]

none of the above

[bojangles1987]

Fury purely because of the size. We haven't seen enough of Joshua to talk about him in fights like this. Wlad at his best would be the pick but he's far from that.

[Dr Rumack]

I don't disagree at all. The only guy I said on that list I think could beat him was Fury. All the rest it's a crap shoot. I find it tough to compare eras...

It would be interesting to see how Fury would respond to a very busy guy roughing him up. I don't think it would be possible to always keep Holyfield on the outside in the first half of the fight, and most of the time he know how to get his shots off inside, even against bigger men.

Fury's movement is really good for a big guy but is it good enough to avoid dog-fight rounds where a real dog like Holyfield is outworking him?

[iamboxing]

This is a good poll because you can see who voted Wilder and iggy their posts. We need more of these to identify the mentally handicapped.