Holyfield on Joe Louis "I'd tear him up!"

[El Kabong]

It's funny how a fighter who wins a bunch had weak opponents whenever it helps a different point of view.


Joe Louis was dominant in a way we have NEVER and possibly will never see. From his loss to Schmeling in 1936 until he lost the title to Ezzard Charles in 1950 he went 34-0-0 with 29 KO's 1 DQ and 4 decisions....that's a hell of a prime of a career for anyone with any opposition.

[Mr140]

Lets not forget he did not fight when he was in the army and could keep his titles not to mention when you are fighting bartenders it is easy to make defences and you call Moorer bad well Schemling was even worse and he was past hime prime as well so i did not get the point not only that he knocked Louis out and dominated him hell Holyfeild with condtion of stiff hart lost by a point and both avenged it but Holyfeild lose was not near as bad let me ask you Lyle do people call Holyfeilds comeption the bum of the month club i think not my friend and there is reason why.

[El Kabong]

Joe fought and beat who was put infront of him....if Holyfield fought as often as Joe Louis did he'd find himself fighting bartenders because he would have gone through all the top heavyweights before the end.


Imagine if Wladimir Klitschko fought 7 times in one year like Joe did in 1941 who would he be fighting?

[Mr140]

I would rather see a guy fight greats then batenders but i know Louis may not had the competion but i not going to use that in putting down Holyfeild because he had a strong divsion to me your only as good as the man that beat and Holyfeild beat men that were great all i can say.

[El Kabong]

I don't doubt Holyfield's greatness, I just think it pales in comparison to Joe Louis'. Just my take, Holyfield is one of the toughest guys to beat hands down....his fight vs Valuev further proves that.

Joe Louis just had an aura about him, I guess kind of like Tyson had an aura around him during his prime but Joe Louis was great (unlike Tyson) and he was great for a long time (unlike Tyson)....if you merged Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield you'd have Joe Louis, he was a power puncher but he could apply pressure and he could also set someone up by using a plethera of punches with power to back them up.

[Master]

If we were talking about the super heavyweights such as Lennox and Vitali I could nearly agree that Joe would not beat modern heavyweights. Holyfield is a smaller heavyweight and would weigh at his best 218lb (if you perceive his best to be when he fought Tyson). If you believe his peak was when he was first champion then it would be around 207lb. Either way that is not much heavier that Joe Louis who superstitiously always tried to weigh below 200lb at his peak. For a fight with Holyfield, Joe would probably come over 200lb.

Holyfield would have to use his boxing skills unless he tried to go for an early KO as Joe could start slowly. Joe however punched harder than Holyfield, his jab, left hook and right cross were very devastating as Ross said, and if he managed to put Holyfield down like Bert Cooper then Joe Loius was one of the best finishers ever.

It is not clear-cut that Holyfield would beat Joe Louis. Holyfield was not that much bigger, did not punch as hard, and was inconsistent.

[Mr140]

Well Louis was rocked by even lesser fighters then what Holyfeild got rocked by i mean one of the guys that rocked Louis was a fat out of shape bartender his chin was far from unbreakable so it could go either was if you ask me i feel Holyfeild could use movement like Conn did and out box Louis also ross Holyfeild was almost 40 with the fighters you are talking about so what is the point of bringing them up were talking prime here and has anyone even seen the interview were he said this.

[Gandalf]

Holyfield is a plank, and he always has been. Anybody listening to him rave after a fight knows this. Anything he says should be taken with a pinch of salt. He doesnt have too many brain cells. Just a wee bit dumb.

[ICB]

Well Louis was rocked by even lesser fighters then what Holyfeild got rocked by i mean one of the guys that rocked Louis was a fat out of shape bartender his chin was far from unbreakable so it could go either was if you ask me i feel Holyfeild could use movement like Conn did and out box Louis also ross Holyfeild was almost 40 with the fighters you are talking about so what is the point of bringing them up were talking prime here and has anyone even seen the interview were he said this.

Joe Louis pummeled Billy Conn in a rematch, Evander Holyfield does move well but he is still very easy to hit he isn't a stick and move fighter like Billy Conn. And he is nowhere near as elusive as Billy Conn was.

From my knowledge Joe Louis was only hurt a few times in his prime out of 25 title defenses, where as Evander Holyfield was hurt a hell of alot more in his prime, Joe Louis did get hurt by Tony Galento.

But Evander Holyfield was hurt far worse against Bert Cooper, and had the ref not given Evander Holyfield a standing 8 count. He may of been KO'ed right there and then.

Lets also not forget his life and death struggle with Michael Dokes, who had been on drugs and was years removed from his best. Evander Holyfield also almost lost against an ancient Larry Holmes.

Evander Holyfield lost the last 3 rounds and looked very disheartened at the end, i had Evander Holyfield just winning 115-113, but you could easily make a case that maybe Larry Holmes may of earned a draw.

Evander Holyfield was a quality fighter with a warrior's heart and excellent countering abilities, but he got shook up too much for my liking. And Joe Louis was explosive on the inside, his little short hooks would of been hell for Evander Holyfield.

Evander Holyfield was getting caught by Bert Cooper's little short hooks on the inside, imagine if that was Joe Louis ? what would he have done to him ?

Evander Holyfield lost a few times in his prime to Michael Moorer/Riddick Bowe, Joe Louis never lost in his prime. I don't believe he was in his prime against Max Schmeling. I feel he was a little bit green and improved quite a bit after that fight.

The problem was Max Schmeling had watched tapes on Joe Louis, and noticed when Joe Louis threw his jab and then brought it back. Joe Louis would leave it slightly too low, and Max Schmeling got a gameplan together to counter over the top of that slightly low left hand with right hands.

Joe Louis learnt his lesson improved on that and beat the living crap out of Max Schmeling. He almost broke him in half, Joe Louis's other losses were to Ezzard Charles/Rocky Marciano. And he was way-way past his prime by that point.