Holyfield v Douglas. Gary Mason Called it

[El Kabong]

It's amazing how quick Douglas went to shit after pulling off the biggest win in boxing history. He showed up 15lbs heavier than he did against Tyson and that lead uppercut was just dumb as hell.

1. He dedicated the Tyson fight to his mother who had recently passed away...you see that kind of (and God this is trite) "inspired performance" when a boxer has dedicated a fight to a loved one.

2. Holyfield feinted him right into that lead uppercut....just picture perfect upper body movement and footwork paired with a beautifully timed counter. It was a homerun swing from Douglas and Holyfield capitalized brilliantly.

[Master]

It's amazing how quick Douglas went to shit after pulling off the biggest win in boxing history. He showed up 15lbs heavier than he did against Tyson and that lead uppercut was just dumb as hell.

1. He dedicated the Tyson fight to his mother who had recently passed away...you see that kind of (and God this is trite) "inspired performance" when a boxer has dedicated a fight to a loved one.

2. Holyfield feinted him right into that lead uppercut....just picture perfect upper body movement and footwork paired with a beautifully timed counter. It was a homerun swing from Douglas and Holyfield capitalized brilliantly.

It was a good shot but Buster could have got up. He took a bigger shot against Tyson.

[El Kabong]

It was a good shot but Buster could have got up. He took a bigger shot against Tyson.

True, but there's also that light bulb that went off in Buster's head as he lay there on the canvas "That dude just walked me right into that punch....what do I even do to stop that?". Plus it was the 8th round when Tyson finally rocked Buster not the 2nd.

I understand that when a fighter hits the canvas a lot of stuff can be flooding their minds there's fear, there's humility, there's anger, there's confusion, but worst of all the little ember of a thought "I can't beat this guy" gets a breath of oxygen and in the 2nd round with the fight or flight response up and running that's something that can completely shut a fighter down. It's not about WILL, it's not about GUTS, it's not about EFFORT, it's about your brain sapping all of your energy and keeping you safe from a continued beating.

[Spicoli]

That's was a great flashback, hadn't watched in years. Thanks for that Mark. I look at a current heavyweight champ who fights like a new born giraffe and then re watch how polished, poised and sharp Holyfield was here and just want to hit rewind . Douglas wasn't all bad physically and Mason nailed it early with his mental set up. Forgot how accurate the Evander left hook was in 1st and buzzing Douglas pretty good.

[El Kabong]

If you were to take 1 fighter to box against an unknown style, an unknown great, Joe Louis or Evander Holyfield would have to be at the top of the list because those guys RARELY had issues with other boxers, they CAUSED issues for other boxers. Regardless of style, regardless of size, those two are probably the most difficult matchups for any other heavyweights you could think of.


My ONLY issue with Evander is that he allowed himself to get hit too much....when he was more focused on the sweet science he was an amazing amazing fighter.

[Master]

If you were to take 1 fighter to box against an unknown style, an unknown great, Joe Louis or Evander Holyfield would have to be at the top of the list because those guys RARELY had issues with other boxers, they CAUSED issues for other boxers. Regardless of style, regardless of size, those two are probably the most difficult matchups for any other heavyweights you could think of.


My ONLY issue with Evander is that he allowed himself to get hit too much....when he was more focused on the sweet science he was an amazing amazing fighter.

Yes he was and he could have beaten Bowe but got mad when he got punched lownumerous times and just went into fighting mode. When he boxed he was the better fighter.

[mikeeod]

If you were to take 1 fighter to box against an unknown style, an unknown great, Joe Louis or Evander Holyfield would have to be at the top of the list because those guys RARELY had issues with other boxers, they CAUSED issues for other boxers. Regardless of style, regardless of size, those two are probably the most difficult matchups for any other heavyweights you could think of.


My ONLY issue with Evander is that he allowed himself to get hit too much....when he was more focused on the sweet science he was an amazing amazing fighter.

Meant to like your post but fat fingered dislike instead. Sorry about that!!!

[mikeeod]

Fast, mobile, and slick guys frustrated Evander. He had a warrior's mentality, so he lost interest when the other guy focused on defense and refused to engage. Evander also had a tendency to be overconfident. Another factor is this is that Evander was a natural counterpuncher and preferred that to leading. Some observations from his career:

Larry Donald: Evander was well past his best, but this would've been a bad match up for him during his prime.
Chris Byrd: Another fighter who would've caused Evander issues at any point due to his movement and focus on defense.
James Toney: This was one of Evander's worst cases of hubris/overconfidence. He told Toney before the fight that no one, even Bowe and Lewis, had the balls to stand in front of him and fight. He then proceeded to load up with every shot and punch himself out (he was past his best) while Toney slipped and countered him silly.
Lennox Lewis: Past his best, the first fight is tied with the Toney fight for most overconfident. He had a dream/vision that Lewis would go out in the 3rd, and trained accordingly. He received a gift draw, but performed much better in the rematch (I thought he won but I'm biased).
Michael Moorer: Overconfidence and a heart issue cost him the first fight, which he avenged savagely in the rematch. Moorer had that great jab, tricky style to bother Evander, but he just went full on beast mode in the rematch for the stoppage win.
Riddick Bowe: Second greatest trilogy at heavyweight, second only to Ali-Frazier, and not by much. The Bowe-Holyfield trilogy had more two way/sustained action throughout as Ali-Frazier 2 was a dud (1 & 3 were ridiculous though).
Tyson, Tua, Rahman, Marciano, Foreman, Frazier, Mercer: Put these guys in front of any version of Evander and he looks great. Aggressive fighters with big punches were his specialty.