evander holyfield

[Grimm]

what did holyfield have that made him such a good fighter? just curious to see answers because I was discussing this with someone else.

[jezzamundo]

Good chin, good technique, good enough power to cause most heavyweights trouble, decent speed and above all - an iron that allowed him to fight through the pain and grind out wins over larger, stronger opponents.

[turn2stone]

a very aggressive puncher/boxer who was not afraid to take a chance and had very good recuperatative powers. very mean stare too

[hhaehre]

Holyfield had good overall skills but he was not really great in any department. Tactically he was ok but again not great, he often got drawn into brawls that made some of his fights more difficult than they needed to be. What made him a great fighter was his mental toughness and iron will, he had the heart of a lion.

[overhand_right]

Great fitness in an era of lazy & talented slackers, amazing heart, fearless, fiercly competitive, could not stand to have anyone get ahead of him in a fight.

Not to mention his skills and ring smarts. The way he easily took apart a guy as powerful & young as Rahman aged 39 was beautiful.

[Robinson]

For me I think he was a tremendous technician,
a true student of the sport's technical aspcts, a very hard worker in the gym,
smart when it comes to effective conditioning and strength training,
a determination and self belief that defied many an expert, an iron
will that saw him stay active for so long, that allowed him to defy so much
pain and punishment in the ring and the gym...and a good chin.

His weaknesses are his self belief (and perhaps belief in God), this makes
him abandon a sound game plan, and instead swing for the fences in a
brawl he does not need. He was at times left hook happy, as beautiful as
his left was, he threw it to often and not after a combo.
He loved to slug when hit hard.

Many argue he had terrible defence, I think it is more of a case that he
wanted to get amongst it a bit to much that he avoided the skills of
self preservation. His defence was more or less average for the most
part.

[ringsider]

Holyfield has been walking on his heels for the past 8 years at least. He should have retired long ago. Now he is just a carnival side show. What he had is long gone. That is too bad. :(

[bollox]

Remember the Holyfield / Benny Hinn healing incident ripoff?

[turn2stone]

Remember the Holyfield / Benny Hinn healing incident ripoff?

who got ripped off...holyfield?

almost as bad as the ripoff of the expert team of doctors at that news conference, with their drawings, models and props, to explain holyfield's heart defect........

[My2Sense]

what did holyfield have that made him such a good fighter?

EVERYTHING.

He was one of the most complete fighters the ring has ever seen.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Jack of all trades, master of none.

[HomicideHenry]

Like Marciano, Holyfield had one thing more in spades than most heavyweights of his era, and that was a self belief in himself that had no equal....throw in a tremendous chin, legit power, fantastic combinations, solid skills....he was one hell of a man to beat and it seldom happened.