would tyson have beat holyfield in 1991?

[Astro Man]

It comes down to whether you feel Holyfield won the fight or Tyson lost. I believe Holyfield won.

The blueprint for beating Tyson's style has been laid out for decades. He was great, but very beatable.

 

[505ighter]

holyfield still wins

 

[Gambolls]

You videogamers kill me, Holyfield has been more wars than most fighters in history you actually believe that Tyson would knockdown Holyfield with "flash knockdowns" and win a decision victory,Tyson had 2 tries and never even came close (4 if you count the amateurs) ......unplug the ps3 and pick up a Ring Mag or better yet watch a fight

WHOA WHOA WHOA, that Fight Night game is epic win :icon_chee

 

[Fluffernutter]

Yes. No body has every bullied Evander. The problem has less to do with wether or not tyson is "prime". It is a style thing. Tyson can only fight in one direction and that is straight forward. His whole career, he would stay on the outside, use that peek-a-boo style then jump in with flurries. Most guys would try and retreat but tyson was so fast, they would step back into tyson's hooks. Holyfeild's response to pressure is to step forward. You saw that in both their fights, tyson would try to explode with his hooking flurries and holyfeild would be inside them. Tyson also had problems with big men, with great jabs like Douglas and Lewis. All three guys refused to be bullied. lewis fought with a back pedalling style anyway, so he wasn't put on the defensive by tyson, that was just how he fought.

Good point. This is why Holyfield vs. Bowe I was such an entertaining fight to watch (even if it was his first loss).

 

[monsieur_jj]

Holyfield fights dirty 87-88 tyson will KO holyfield

 

[ZeekWatson]

This match doesn't depend on which Tyson shows up, or which Holyfield shows up, but which referee shows up. It all comes down to if the ref lets Holyfield get away with head butts.

 

[djacobox372]

Yes holyfield is a warrior and cannot be bullied. BUT people are forgetting that he's human, and didn't have the best defense in the world.

It doesn't matter how strong-willed a fighter is, if he gets hit too often, to hard, his body is going to fail him.

Holyfield would make it a war as he always does, but he would end up paying the price for that.

 

[JKD]

Holyfield would win. He has the style that beats Tyson.

 

[danny casso]

lron Mike would have beaten Holyfield at best on points in 1991 if not TKO because he still had the big combinations in his armory,'HOLY' was not big enough to hurt lron Mike then,Tyson would have gone through 'HOLYs' best punches,destiny dealt holyfield a better chance when they finally met,Tyson had no punch resistence after prison plus 'HOLY' was heavier,stronger so could hurt Tyson,its a shame they could not fight in 1991,would have been a cracker!

 

[RR]

Holy's style was bad for Tyson at any point. He also had an insane chin. Mike would have lost a decision

 

[burningspear]

I think he would have, after his sentence he'd lost the incredible movement which complemented his other worldly power and speed.
Tyson Ko 5.

 

[danny casso]

Holy's style was bad for Tyson at any point. He also had an insane chin. Mike would have lost a decision

not in 1991 pal..

 

[danny casso]

It comes down to whether you feel Holyfield won the fight or Tyson lost. I believe Holyfield won.

The blueprint for beating Tyson's style has been laid out for decades. He was great, but very beatable.

would HOLY prime beat TYSON 85-89! timing is everything in boxing !

 

[danny casso]

91? Probably not.
88? Probably yes.

The key to beating Holyfield isn't about whether or not Mike was in his prime. Rather, imo, its more about which trainer he was associated with. Under Teddy Atlas / Kevin Rooney's tutelage, I am certain that Tyson could've beat Holyfield.

Any time afterwards, Tyson's chances are lowered. Hell, did you see his corner for the Buster Douglas fight? They were so inept and unprepared that they had to use condoms filled with ice instead of actual icepacks.

Tyson pre-prison would beat Holyfield on pts or TKO, HOLY was lucky they met post prison

 

[danny casso]

I hear what your are saying but I still don't think Tyson would have ever beaten Holyfield. In 88 Holyfield was still around crusierwieght and would have been faster and harder to hit for tyson and Holyfield could still take a punch, even a punch from tyson, So I think he would be able to drag tyson into the late rds and get the dec.

let me wake you to reality! ln 88 Tyson was Undisputed King!! he would have decapitated holyfield!

 

[danny casso]

As we now know, when Mike fell out with a rib injury before their 1991 fight, Bert Cooper stepped in. Bert was the same size and had pretty good power (Oliver McCall has stated that out of all the guys he was in the ring with, Bert hit him the hardest...and that was in sparring)

Bert knocked Evander down. Could Tyson?

The 218-220 Evander will always be able to push back and not be bullied by Tyson. However, would the 208-210 Evander be able to do the same???

spot on..its obvious Tyson would have won in 1991,bert cooper was his replacement and look what happened..l say points or TKO

 

[danny casso]

I don't see Tyson in any era beating Holyfield. No matter who's in Tyson's corner or who's running his training camp; Tyson won't survive a war of attrition against Holyfield. The only way he beats Holy is if he knocks him out cold, and we've all seen how hard that is to do over the years.

Holyfield was too tough mentally and too well conditioned physically to lose to a mental midget.

learn boxing!

 

[danny casso]

Yes. No body has every bullied Evander. The problem has less to do with wether or not tyson is "prime". It is a style thing. Tyson can only fight in one direction and that is straight forward. His whole career, he would stay on the outside, use that peek-a-boo style then jump in with flurries. Most guys would try and retreat but tyson was so fast, they would step back into tyson's hooks. Holyfeild's response to pressure is to step forward. You saw that in both their fights, tyson would try to explode with his hooking flurries and holyfeild would be inside them. Tyson also had problems with big men, with great jabs like Douglas and Lewis. All three guys refused to be bullied. lewis fought with a back pedalling style anyway, so he wasn't put on the defensive by tyson, that was just how he fought.

your not judging them if they met in 1991!your judging their fights,Holy was not heavy or strong enough to handle a mean Tyson 1991 version..he would have put up a great fight but Tyson would win by TKO or points

 

[proncley]

Ruddock, who wasn't the boxer than Holyfield was, was holding his own against Tyson. I'd probably go with Holyfield in 1991.

But it's more competive than their 1996 fight ...and it still doesn't mean that Holyfield at his best beats Tyson (around 1988) at his best.

 

[ssx]

Tyson never really got himself into his best fighting shape after 1989. Too much partying and distractions. His style was dependent on being able to keep up the pace in fights. It wasn’t really noticeable because he kept blowing out guys like Seldon and Bruno. Once he fought a guy that wouldn’t just fold and fight back in Holyfield the lack of tip top conditioning showed and he faded late. I believe the one time post 80’s that his conditioning was up to par was the Ruddock fights because of the perceived threat Ruddock posed. Tyson was not as his best technically, but I remember thinking he did get himself in proper shape.
All of that said, I’d take the 1991 version of Tyson to beat Holyfield. I don’t believe Tyson would have faded as badly in ‘91 as he did when they fought. Even if he did, I don’t believe Holyfield would stop him. I also believe Tyson underestimated Holyfield when they fought and was nowhere near his best conditioning wise. Crazy as it seems, I could see Tyson building a lead and hurting Holy early, then fading a bit with Holy coming on in the last few rounds, but Tyson surviving to win a decision. If you insert a ref who would not allow Holy’s headbutts, I think Tyson would possibly stop him.