would tyson have beat holyfield in 1991?

[extreme toney**]

i know most people would say evander would still win but even though mike lost to buster a year before he was still in his prime and still a beast i found video footage of mike training for that fight in 1991, and i can say holyfield would have been in for a war. not saying holyfield couldn't have won i just dont think he would have.

 

[MisterT]

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.

 

[sokofan**]

If holyfield stopped with the damn headbutts.

 

[TexasDrugAddict**]

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.

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.

 

[lukewall]

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.

 

[djacobox372]

I think tyson would likely beat holyfield on points, based on him doing pretty well against against holyfield in their first fight: Tyson won the first half of the fight and then ran out of steam.

If they fought in 91, you'd see a better version of tyson fighting a greener less strong version of holyfield. Tyson wins the fight by taking the first 7 rounds, scoring a flash knockdown or two, and then coasting to a decision victory.

 

[consortium11]

In an interesting point of trivia Douglas was actually a "warm up" fight for Tyson while they were in the process of hyping a Holyfield/Tyson bout.

 

[Kimura77]

Are you kidding me?They have fought before as amateurs,Hell i think that they fought twice making Holyfield 4-0 against Tyson so no theres no way Tyson beats Holyfield.....Have you guys ever even watched the fight what leads you to believe Tyson could beat Holyfield (In any era)who has one of the best chins in boxing......

 

[Kimura77]

I think tyson would likely beat holyfield on points .

Im sorry but thats just plain stupid....

 

[Kimura77]

Tyson wins the fight by taking the first 7 rounds, scoring a flash knockdown or two, and then coasting to a decision victory.

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

 

[Fluffernutter]

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???

 

[ChuteBoxeStomp]

Are you kidding me?They have fought before as amateurs,Hell i think that they fought twice making Holyfield 4-0 against Tyson so no theres no way Tyson beats Holyfield.....Have you guys ever even watched the fight what leads you to believe Tyson could beat Holyfield (In any era)who has one of the best chins in boxing......

lol they never fought in the amateurs, Tyson was 24-3 as an amatuer losing controversial decisions to Henry Tillman(twice) and Craig Payne

 

[consortium11]

lol they never fought in the amateurs, Tyson was 24-3 as an amatuer losing controversial decisions to Henry Tillman(twice) and Craig Payne

To be fair the exact stats from Tyson's amateur career are hard to pin down. I've heard everything from 17-6 to 33-4.

I do know he was stopped by Al Evans (although the circumstances are unclear as to whether it was a legitimate stoppage or he quit because of excess holding), which combined with the Tillman and Payne fights makes him have at least four loses on his record.

 

[ChuteBoxeStomp]

To be fair the exact stats from Tyson's amateur career are hard to pin down. I've heard everything from 17-6 to 33-4.

I do know he was stopped by Al Evans (although the circumstances are unclear as to whether it was a legitimate stoppage or he quit because of excess holding), which combined with the Tillman and Payne fights makes him have at least four loses on his record.

fair enough.. 24-3 is what I see almost everywhere I look so I thought that was his amateur record and I knew about the Tillman and Payne losses.. Ive never heard anything about Tyson losing to Holyfield in the amateurs, certainly not twice

 

[Sharkey]

To be fair the exact stats from Tyson's amateur career are hard to pin down. I've heard everything from 17-6 to 33-4.

I do know he was stopped by Al Evans (although the circumstances are unclear as to whether it was a legitimate stoppage or he quit because of excess holding), which combined with the Tillman and Payne fights makes him have at least four loses on his record.

Add in the loss to an amateur by the name of Ernie Bennett in 1981 and the DQ loss to Kimmuel Odom in Nov of 1983 at the US Amateur Championships in Colorado Springs.

In Reg Gutteridge's 'Release of Power' there is a listing of a number of Tyson's amateur fights. Probably 35 in total being named.

The loss to Bennett was described briefly in Peter Heller's 'Bad Intentions' on page 86;

"Under Teddy's guidance, Mike had had more than twenty sanctioned fights, plus numerous 'bootleg' bouts. He lost just once and that was a disputed decision to an amateur named Ernie Bennett in Rhode Island."

The loss to Evans came shortly after the split between Teddy & Cus and was described briefly by Heller, as well, on page 92 of the same book;

"He faced an experienced heavyweight named Al Evans, a mature man ten years older than himself. In the third round, Evans pulled a shocker. He dropped Tyson three times, scoring a knockout victory."

For whatever it's worth.

Bennett, Evans, Payne, Odum, Tillman x2...There's at least six losses from Tyson's amateur days that have been written about.

 

[ChuteBoxeStomp]

just found this..

Amateur highlights
1981
Jun --- --- KO 1 U.S. Jr. Olympic Champion Heavyweight
Nov? Ernie Bennet L 3 Rhode Island

1982
Jun Jonathon Littles KO 2 U.S. Jr. Olympic Tourney, Heavyweight Salem, OR
Jun Don Cozad KO 1 U.S. Jr. Olympic Tourney, Heavyweight Salem, OR
Jun 26 Kelton Brown KO 1 U.S. Jr. Olympic Tourney, Heavyweight Salem, OR
--- Kilbert Pierce W 3 USA/ABF Region 1 Tourney Boston, MA
Dec 12 Al Evans LK 3 Binghampton, NY

1983
Mar Andrew Stokes KO 3 National Golden Gloves Super Heavy Albuquerque, NM
Mar Mike Bardwell KO 1 National Golden Gloves Super Heavy Albuquerque, NM
Mar Warren Thompson W National Golden Gloves Super Heavy Albuquerque, NM
Mar 26 Craig Payne L 3 National Golden Gloves Super Heavy Albuquerque, NM
Aug 14 Olian Alexander W Ohio State Fair National Invitational, 200 lbs
Aug 27 --- --- --- US (Under 19) Champion +201-lb Gold Medalist
Dec 10 Kimmuel Odum L DQ 2 United States Championship Tournament

1984
--- Orbit Pough KO 1 US (Under 19) Champion +201-lb Gold Medalist
--- Derek Isaman W 3 National Golden Gloves
--- Richard Johnson KO National Golden Gloves
--- Johnny Williams KO National Golden Gloves
--- Rocky Pepeli KO National Golden Gloves
--- Jonathan Littles KO 1 National Golden Gloves 201-lb Gold Medalist
Jun 8 Avery Rawls W 3 United States Olympic Trials 201-lb Fort Worth, TX
Jun 9 Henry Milligan KO 2 United States Olympic Trials Fort Worth, TX
Jun 10 Henry Tillman L 3 United States Olympic Trials, Silver Fort Worth, TX
Jul 6 Olian Alexander [?] United States Olympic Box-offs 201-lb Las Vegas, NV
Jul 7 Henry Tillman L 3 United States Olympic Box-offs 201-lb Las Vegas, NV
Oct Opponent ? Finland

so he lost to Ernie Bennet when he was 15 and then to Davis, Payne, and Tillman twice.. and a DQ to Kimmuel Odum... dont see Holyfield's name anywhere

 

[ChuteBoxeStomp]

Add in the loss to an amateur by the name of Ernie Bennett in 1981 and the DQ loss to Kimmuel Odom in Nov of 1983 at the US Amateur Championships in Colorado Springs.

In Reg Gutteridge's 'Release of Power' there is a listing of a number of Tyson's amateur fights. Probably 35 in total being named.

The loss to Bennett was described briefly in Peter Heller's 'Bad Intentions' on page 86;

"Under Teddy's guidance, Mike had had more than twenty sanctioned fights, plus numerous 'bootleg' bouts. He lost just once and that was a disputed decision to an amateur named Ernie Bennett in Rhode Island."

The loss to Evans came shortly after the split between Teddy & Cus and was described briefly by Heller, as well, on page 92 of the same book;

"He faced an experienced heavyweight named Al Evans, a mature man ten years older than himself. In the third round, Evans pulled a shocker. He dropped Tyson three times, scoring a knockout victory."

For whatever it's worth.

Bennett, Evans, Payne, Odum, Tillman x2...There's at least six losses from Tyson's amateur days that have been written about.

release of power? Ill have to get that.

So have you heard of Tyson and Holyfield fighting as amateurs?.. I would think that it would have been documented if they did..
Holyfield won bronze at the 84 summer Olympics fighting at light heavyweight(around 170-175) and by that time Tyson was 18 around 200-210lbs.. I know Tyson was lighter earlier in his amateur career but I still dont think it happened

 

[consortium11]

release of power? Ill have to get that.

So have you heard of Tyson and Holyfield fighting as amateurs?.. I would think that it would have been documented if they did..
Holyfield won bronze at the 84 summer Olympics fighting at light heavyweight(around 170-175) and by that time Tyson was 18 around 200-210lbs.. I know Tyson was lighter earlier in his amateur career but I still dont think it happened

I've heard they sparred together (as Lewis and Tyson did) but I've never heard of them actually facing off against each other. If they did you imagine it would come up whenever Tyson's amateur record is mentioned... and quite frankly, it doesn't.

I think this was a case of someone not recalling something correctly, not double checking his fact and then being far too assertive with what looks like an (unintentional?) fabrication.

 

[dg43088]

MY first thought was yes tyson would win but i re watched the first fight and tyson would have needed to change the entire fight plan to have a shot and i dont think that shot he hurt holyfield with in the first round would have ko'ed him in 91 (or ever for that matter). He would need a great corner and a great plan to get to holyfield, wasn't meant to be i suppose

 

[Tony Manifold]

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???

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.