If Tyson and Holyfield fought today...

[Nameless]

I think that Evander just had Tyson's number; he had the chin to take the shots that would land and he had the ring generalship and movement to frustrate him over the course of time. Of course, nobody wants that fight to happen today, Holyfield is not even a shadow of what he used to be (and some people think that he has Parkinson or some kind of dementia beginning) and Tyson seems to have found back some kind of peace of mind, finally. You just don't want to aggravate nothing about that.

[Spicoli]

With Jones jr v Collins in the air, pleeeease dont give them any ideas

I saw that Tyson will play the lead on a new episode of "Law & Order" next week too. What a trip.

[TysonBomb]

I think that Evander just had Tyson's number; he had the chin to take the shots that would land and he had the ring generalship and movement to frustrate him over the course of time. Of course, nobody wants that fight to happen today, Holyfield is not even a shadow of what he used to be (and some people think that he has Parkinson or some kind of dementia beginning) and Tyson seems to have found back some kind of peace of mind, finally. You just don't want to aggravate nothing about that.

Holyfield roided, HGHed, and headbutted his way to "two victories"

The only time I ever saw Mike visibly hurt were from the butts ... I know Mike isn't the cleanest fighter ever but the stuff he would do was minor ... he wasn't changing the outcome of the fight like Holyfield was ... Holyfield was literally aiming to hit Tyson with his head like a battering ram.

That headbutting nonsense wouldn't work on the younger Mike who would had impeccable defense and supreme head movement. So there goes Holyfields "wins" over Iron Mike.

[Spicoli]

I think that Evander just had Tyson's number; he had the chin to take the shots that would land and he had the ring generalship and movement to frustrate him over the course of time. Of course, nobody wants that fight to happen today, Holyfield is not even a shadow of what he used to be (and some people think that he has Parkinson or some kind of dementia beginning) and Tyson seems to have found back some kind of peace of mind, finally. You just don't want to aggravate nothing about that.

Holyfield roided, HGHed, and headbutted his way to "two victories"

The only time I ever saw Mike visibly hurt were from the butts ... I know Mike isn't the cleanest fighter ever but the stuff he would do was minor ... he wasn't changing the outcome of the fight like Holyfield was ... Holyfield was literally aiming to hit Tyson with his head like a battering ram.

That headbutting nonsense wouldn't work on the younger Mike who would had impeccable defense and supreme head movement. So there goes Holyfields "wins" over Iron Mike.

Dude. Your boy got his ass kicked. Get over it. This reinvention quest is like watching a teenager fawn over his first crush. Everytime I see someone defend what Tyson did its just sad.

Tyson literally locked and twisted Holyfields arm (not the first fight he did this) and in the end not only "changed the outcome of the fight" the second time around...he ended it with his desperate intentional actions. Boxing is one of the only sports where you have the right and are more than welcome and expected to punch an opponent right in the fucking face and render him limp from one second to the next, if Holyfield was upsetting poor little Mike with his head, Mike being one of the baddest men on the planet and purist heavyweight punchers in history should have done just that. Instead, he punked out!

[TitoFan]

I think that Evander just had Tyson's number; he had the chin to take the shots that would land and he had the ring generalship and movement to frustrate him over the course of time. Of course, nobody wants that fight to happen today, Holyfield is not even a shadow of what he used to be (and some people think that he has Parkinson or some kind of dementia beginning) and Tyson seems to have found back some kind of peace of mind, finally. You just don't want to aggravate nothing about that.

Holyfield roided, HGHed, and headbutted his way to "two victories"

The only time I ever saw Mike visibly hurt were from the butts ... I know Mike isn't the cleanest fighter ever but the stuff he would do was minor ... he wasn't changing the outcome of the fight like Holyfield was ... Holyfield was literally aiming to hit Tyson with his head like a battering ram.

That headbutting nonsense wouldn't work on the younger Mike who would had impeccable defense and supreme head movement. So there goes Holyfields "wins" over Iron Mike.

Dude. Your boy got his ass kicked. Get over it. This reinvention quest is like watching a teenager fawn over his first crush. Everytime I see someone defend what Tyson did its just sad.

Tyson literally locked and twisted Holyfields arm (not the first fight he did this) and in the end not only "changed the outcome of the fight" the second time around...he ended it with his desperate intentional actions. Boxing is one of the only sports where you have the right and are more than welcome and expected to punch an opponent right in the fucking face and render him limp from one second to the next, if Holyfield was upsetting poor little Mike with his head, Mike being one of the baddest men on the planet and purist heavyweight punchers in history should have done just that. Instead, he punked out!

There goes objectivity out the window again. I'm gonna say that probably 75% of boxing fans lack objectivity when it comes to their own favorite fighters. Argue about prime Tyson vs prime Wlad... and I'm firmly in Tyson's corner, talking about Wlad's lack of chin and the real probability of his getting KTFO'ed inside 5 rounds. But c'mon man! Facts are facts. Holyfield swept the floor with Tyson and that's all there is to it. No ifs, ands, or buts. That's the way it goes in boxing. You win some... you lose some.

[TysonBomb]

I'm not trying to absolve Tyson or anything but what I stated was fact.

The heabutts "won" him those fights ... and they were all INTENTIONAL ... and the second time Mike wasn't going to take it and went nuts

[tysonesque]

I'm not trying to absolve Tyson or anything but what I stated was fact.

The heabutts "won" him those fights ... and they were all INTENTIONAL ... and the second time Mike wasn't going to take it and went nuts

It wasn't the headbutts that won Holyfield the fights, it was his heart and the fact that he stood up to Mike. Tyson was so used to blowing guys away and he expected Holyfield to go the same way, but he didn't. Holyfield shocked him and Mike just didn't have it in him to respond because he wasn't the same fighter he once was.

By the time Tyson fought Holyfield he was a spent force trading on his past reputation. The post prison Tyson was probably only 60% or 70% of the 1980s Tyson and it wasn't enough to beat the top guys.

He bit Evander's ear because he was frustrated and losing the fight. Sure, the headbutts pissed him off, but Mike was being butted in the first fight and didn't react like that. He didn't just bite his ear once, he did it twice and then deliberately ran over and shoved Holyfield across the ring when his back was turned because he wanted to be disqualified. He knew what he was doing.

Prime Tyson probably would have beaten Holyfield, but by the time they did fight, Holyfield was the better fighter and that's why he won.

Tyson at his peak was unbelievably good and destroyed some very good fighters. He even as good as ended several fighters' careers, but his peak was brief and I have never seen a fighter deteriorate as quickly as Mike did. The Tyson who fought Bruno first time around was almost unrecognisable from the Tyson who obliterated Spinks only a year earlier.

Cast your mind back to when Tyson was undefeated and undisputed champion blowing people away. Even then, anyone involved in boxing who knew anything about Tyson said he would self destruct and that's exactly what he did. Prime Tyson was as good as he was because he lived in the gym and fought incredibly regularly. He was managed and handled that way because if they let him off the leash he would get into trouble and go off the rails. Under Rooney and the guys from the Cus era he was a dedicated professional and it's no coincidence that his career and life turned to shit once he got rid of them and hooked up with King.

Kevin Rooney wasn't some all time great trainer, he was a trainer who knew Mike inside out and knew how to get the best out of him. They were just right for each other and it was a marriage made in heaven. When it ended, neither of them achieved anything like what they had achieved together ever again.

After the loss to Douglas, everyone was watching and waiting for Mike to rediscover his best form, the head movement and incredible defence, the combination punching and timing etc, but it never happened.

This is a very long winded way of saying that, as great as Tyson was in his prime, his prime was pretty damn short and Tyson lost to Holyfield because he was the better fighter at that time.

[brocktonblockbust]

Tony Tucker set the blueprint 10 years earlier by I thought beating Tyson using backward movement, counter punching and holding excessively. Holyfield musta seen that fight 10 times before he fought Mike in 96.

[tysonesque]

I think that Evander just had Tyson's number; he had the chin to take the shots that would land and he had the ring generalship and movement to frustrate him over the course of time. Of course, nobody wants that fight to happen today, Holyfield is not even a shadow of what he used to be (and some people think that he has Parkinson or some kind of dementia beginning) and Tyson seems to have found back some kind of peace of mind, finally. You just don't want to aggravate nothing about that.

Holyfield roided, HGHed, and headbutted his way to "two victories"

The only time I ever saw Mike visibly hurt were from the butts ... I know Mike isn't the cleanest fighter ever but the stuff he would do was minor ... he wasn't changing the outcome of the fight like Holyfield was ... Holyfield was literally aiming to hit Tyson with his head like a battering ram.

That headbutting nonsense wouldn't work on the younger Mike who would had impeccable defense and supreme head movement. So there goes Holyfields "wins" over Iron Mike.

Jeez, even as a fellow Tyson fan I'm not buying that.

What Mike did in the second fight was pathetic and there was no excuse for it. Let's not pretend Mike wasn't a dirty fighter either. Even at his peak he regularly used elbows and frequently hit people when they were down.

Mike lost both fights to Holyfield because he was past his best and pretty well shot. By the time he went in against Holyfield he was living off his past reputation and could only put up a serious fight for 4 or 5 rounds against top opposition. Unlike others, Holyfield wasn't afraid of him and gave as good as he got and Mike ran out of gas and ideas pretty quickly.

Tyson's only convincing performance after his release from prison was against Bruno and that's because Bruno was made to measure for him. In every other fight he looked pretty terrible. His performance against Mathis jr was a joke.

Had they fought when Mike was at his peak it would be a different story, but Holyfield still gives him one hell of a fight no matter what.

[VictorCharlie]

Don't want to watch either fight ever again but Evander wins this fight at any point of either's career.