Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield vs. Muhammed Ali
Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield vs. Muhammed Ali
Which of these boxers would be the worst match-up for a prime Ali? A modern Lennox Lewis, an early 90's Mike Tyson, or an early to mid 90's Evander Holyfield?
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Tomato-Can
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Guest
- Heavyweight
Re: ali
in my opinion....the taz. wrote:lewis. tyson. holyfield. a prime ali to good for them. lewis would get mugged and stopped. tyson would be outboxed like the last 2 smoking joe fights. holyfield would be the best fight. but ali would out box him. in fact i think a prime foreman would defeat these 3 guys. the taz.
Tyson vs Ali - Ali would win by Wud or TKO
Holyfield vs Ali - Wsd for either fighter
Lewis vs Ali - Lewis is real big, and real strong... he could definately knock out Ali, but have a hard time. Ali by Wud
Tyson vs Foreman - Foreman win by KO inside of 3
Holyfield vs Foreman - hmmm, this is a hard one, but i'll have to go w/ a TKO for Big George.
Lewis vs Foreman - Foreman wins, KOby5
I think Holyfeild beats Foreman. Holyfield had a good chin and was very good at watching a guy fight and executing a game plan. His chin was good enough to withstand Georges early attack. His stamina was great in his prime, and he could jab and box very well too. He would take George deep into the fight where George would get dead tired.
George could KO Lewis. If you have been one punched KO a couple of times before you are in trouble with George. He hit like a truck. Very strong for the first four rounds. WOuld have deflated Tyson's attack and caught Lewis with something heavy. If George had beaten ALi he would have been praised as the greatest.
I would pick ALi over those three, but Holyfield would be a war. May be Holy would win 1 of 3 like Norton and Frazier.
George could KO Lewis. If you have been one punched KO a couple of times before you are in trouble with George. He hit like a truck. Very strong for the first four rounds. WOuld have deflated Tyson's attack and caught Lewis with something heavy. If George had beaten ALi he would have been praised as the greatest.
I would pick ALi over those three, but Holyfield would be a war. May be Holy would win 1 of 3 like Norton and Frazier.
Apples and Oranges. George of '91 and George of '70's are two totally different fighters. Foreman of the 70's was competely fatigued by the 8th round against ALi and was KO. He was also completely drained against Jimmy Young loosing by 12 round decision.
Foreman of 91 was much better at pacing himself and fighting hard for 12 rounds. He also had a rock hard chin and would never go down. In his first career he was down against even light hitters like Young and ALi, not to mention his off the canvas fight with Lyle.
He was two different fighters. They both had power though. Styles make fights. The '91 George was huge, had a chin of granite, and a punch like a mack truck, but was slow and immobile. As a result the fight went the distance and was a good one, but Evander won clearly.
'70s Foreman did not have the thinking mind of the 90's Foreman. He came to knock you out, simple as that. Not the right game plan when fighting Evander. If it was that easy Lewis and Tyson would have laid him out themselves.
Holyfield has been in plenty of wars and is always ready to go 12 hard rounds. Foreman of the 70's was not.
Foreman of 91 was much better at pacing himself and fighting hard for 12 rounds. He also had a rock hard chin and would never go down. In his first career he was down against even light hitters like Young and ALi, not to mention his off the canvas fight with Lyle.
He was two different fighters. They both had power though. Styles make fights. The '91 George was huge, had a chin of granite, and a punch like a mack truck, but was slow and immobile. As a result the fight went the distance and was a good one, but Evander won clearly.
'70s Foreman did not have the thinking mind of the 90's Foreman. He came to knock you out, simple as that. Not the right game plan when fighting Evander. If it was that easy Lewis and Tyson would have laid him out themselves.
Holyfield has been in plenty of wars and is always ready to go 12 hard rounds. Foreman of the 70's was not.
The '91 version of Big George landed plenty of punches on Evander's chin. If Holyfield couldn't get out of the way of them in '91, he surely couldn't have gone out of the way of them in the seventies. That spells
d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r for poor little Evander.
Holyfield is not the type of fighter who would have been succesful against a young Foreman, he'd have to stick and move and tire George out without getting caught. Every decent fighter Evander fought, caught him at one point in the fight; Stewart, Dokes, even McDonagh and a completely shot Pinklon Thomas. He couldn't afford to do that that against young George.
It's not that old George had a better chin than young George, that would probably have been the first time a chin improved with age. It's just that old George paced himself better, when you're dead-tired it doesn't take much of a punch to knock you over, as Jimmy Young and Muhammad Ali proved. More a case of lacking in stamina than lacking in the chin department.
d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r for poor little Evander.
Holyfield is not the type of fighter who would have been succesful against a young Foreman, he'd have to stick and move and tire George out without getting caught. Every decent fighter Evander fought, caught him at one point in the fight; Stewart, Dokes, even McDonagh and a completely shot Pinklon Thomas. He couldn't afford to do that that against young George.
It's not that old George had a better chin than young George, that would probably have been the first time a chin improved with age. It's just that old George paced himself better, when you're dead-tired it doesn't take much of a punch to knock you over, as Jimmy Young and Muhammad Ali proved. More a case of lacking in stamina than lacking in the chin department.
In response to the original proposition about Lewis, Tyson, Holyfield against Ali, I agree with virtually everyone's assessment that Ali would have most trouble with Holyfield. I would add one other thought - I think it quite possible that Ali would KO Lewis. If McCall and Rahman could do it, even if Lewis claimed to have taken the fight too easily, I think Ali could have done it. Lewis doesn't have the speed or mobility to avoid Ali for 15 rounds, as it was then, or twelve as it is now.
After Ali I think the next best heavyweight, at his peak, in the last 30 to 40 years was Larry Holmes. I know many will disagree, pointing to Witherspoon, Spinks etc, but he had hand speed, a very big assett for a heavyweight. Does anybody else rate him ?.
After Ali I think the next best heavyweight, at his peak, in the last 30 to 40 years was Larry Holmes. I know many will disagree, pointing to Witherspoon, Spinks etc, but he had hand speed, a very big assett for a heavyweight. Does anybody else rate him ?.
Yes Taz. I must admit though I didn't think Holmes lost either of those fights against Spinks. I am probably biased, being a Holmes admirer, and think he lost only because he threatened Marciano's record and I think, openly in lot of cases and probably subconsciously in many others, people didn't want him to break it. If it had been Ali who broke the record I don't think it would have been a problem, but for any other heavyweight so soon after the Greatest to take the record was virtually unthinkable.
I really think Holmes suffers because he was too close to Ali in time (and of course beat an already ill Ali, although we didn't know it at the time). Others who didn't rate Holmes because of his KO4 by Tyson, should turn time around and see if they think the Tyson we saw against Lewis would have lasted four rounds against a young Holmes. I doubt it.
I really think Holmes suffers because he was too close to Ali in time (and of course beat an already ill Ali, although we didn't know it at the time). Others who didn't rate Holmes because of his KO4 by Tyson, should turn time around and see if they think the Tyson we saw against Lewis would have lasted four rounds against a young Holmes. I doubt it.
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David Mills
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