Thread: What If Tyson had KO'ed Holyfield?

Remember the first punch of the fight where Tyson bobbed which means he would normally throw a left hook but instead throws a right hand which surprised Holyfield. What if he did KO or stop Holyfield after that punch in the first round and won the fight. How would have their careers panned out?

Tyson was avoiding Lewis and was a shell of a fighter. So who would he have beat before being found out?

What about Holyfield, he was far from finished but there would be no demand for a rematch. How would his career have looked knowing what we know now?

Originally Posted by Master

Remember the first punch of the fight where Tyson bobbed which means he would normally throw a left hook but instead throws a right hand which surprised Holyfield. What if he did KO or stop Holyfield after that punch in the first round and won the fight. How would have their careers panned out?

Tyson was avoiding Lewis and was a shell of a fighter. So who would he have beat before being found out?

What about Holyfield, he was far from finished but there would be no demand for a rematch. How would his career have looked knowing what we know now?

A Lewis fight would have been proboly would have been next in which Lewis would have won IMO.

I wish he would have KO'd him.

Good question! I really don't know.
Tyson would probably have gone down in History as a better Heavyweight than what he will do but that said I think he would still have been beaten off Lennox which would probably have been his next fight. Also he would have never have bitten Holyfields ear and lost a lot of respect in the boxing world.

As for Holyfield I think he would still go down as a great but Tyson is definitley his greatest moment and without it he would lose a bit of the shine from his illustrious career.

Holyfield was coming off of a subpar perfomance against Bobby Czyz and that made him a huge underdog in the first fight, so people probably wouldn't have given Mike all that much credit for an early KO anyway. I agree with most that if that would have happened, Lennox was the only main fight out there after that and Lewis would have beaten him.

Many People were saying Holyfield was washed up and I remember more than one TV pundits openly suggesteing Holyfield might get severley damaged and should be watched very carefully. He beat up Bobby Czyz as a come back fight with "He had something on his gloves,My eyes" swirling around after wards.Yawn.In hindsight ,Its hard to say what might of happened in a One punch KO scenario but It became obvious as it unfolded that it was Tysons Best/maybe, only hope .They might have had a quick rematch, though in light of Holyfield being worn down and KO'd face first exactly one year earlier in third Bowe fight.....It might not have been much demanded ??

As Spicoli said - the big thing concerning Holyfield first fight was his life was at risk So I guess he would have struggled to convince people he was worthy of getting back in the mix for a while.

Tyson's already fearsome reputation would have gone up hundred fold, so i'd bet, he would have dominated through the 90s for quite some time.

If Tyson followed the route that Holyfield did when he beat Tyson then he may have fought and beat Moorer (ala Tua did ) and Vaughn (How the hell did I get a title shot) Bean. He may then have fought Lewis and lost probably like he did against Holyfield. Strong early and then blow out. In the rematch he would then try and bite Lewis ear/knee and shame himself and go off the rails again.
Holyfield would have beaten fighters but would have been a lot older by the time he fought Lewis and lost convincingly with no rematch.

Mike Tyson never did have the style to cope with Holyfield BUT had that happened I think people would look at him much the way they do now which is they overrate him a bunch. Don't get me wrong I like Tyson but I know as a fan of other fighters we do as fans tend to look past their shortcomings and Tyson had his (just as Wlad has his ) but there were very few fighters that could capitalize on them.

I wish Tyson had fought more of the top level contenders in his post prison career.

Tyson vs the following:

Riddick Bowe
Shannon Briggs
Hasim Rahman
Michael Moorer
David Tua
Tommy Morrison
Ray Mercer
Oliver McCall


I think all of those fights would have tested Tyson more than oh let's say Lou Savarese and Peter McNeeley...and it's fun to see guys like Briggs and Moorer KO'd

what another pointless thread, this "what if this happened when it didn't" bull crap - fair rnough if it was a debate on a dubious ebnding, but the guy whom won won. end of thats what happened.

you could debate just about any fight in the entire histor of boxing with a what if and it wouldn't change a thing at all.

Had a hard day, woman not giving you any?

Chill out this is a boxing forum. I was not turning back time just hypothesizing a what if.

Tyson should've went to the body more.

Holyfield took it better upstairs than to the body.

...it wouldn't have made a difference, Tyson just didn't stand a chance. He didn't stand a chance against Lewis either.


I think the people I listed before Tyson would have had a better shot at even after prison.

Maybe I missed Tyson avoiding Lewis. What I remember is Tyson calling him out and saying that thing about eating his children or whatever. In the ring, I saw him intimidated don't know why because he faced taller guys before and had no problems. I was expecting Tyson to just land a single punch the already-exposed jaw. Too bad, he lost.

It was right after his stay in prison when Tyson supposedly ducked Lennox Lewis....of course Lewis didn't help his cause by losing to McCall (Tyson's sparring partner).

I just wish Tyson didn't waste his time with such tomato cans as Cliff Ettienne, Julius Francis, Lou Savarese, Orlin Norris and Brian Neilsen.