Greatest Boxers and Their Times

[HX76]

Holyfield was a great fighter. I do remember him being badly rocked by Smokin’ Bert Cooper though. Did well to comeback and win that one.

I saw Pacquiao fight in Vegas in 2008. He was absolutely amazing. Completely dominated his opponent (David Díaz).

Usyk deserves a mention as well, tremendous fighter.

 

[RamFan503]

Holyfield was a great fighter. I do remember him being badly rocked by Smokin’ Bert Cooper though. Did well to comeback and win that one.

I think I’ve seen Holyfield rocked in almost every fight I’ve seen him in. His defense sucks but he’s got a steel chin and he just keeps coming forward and throwing punches.

 

[fearsomefour]

Holyfield was a great fighter. I do remember him being badly rocked by Smokin’ Bert Cooper though. Did well to comeback and win that one.

I saw Pacquiao fight in Vegas in 2008. He was absolutely amazing. Completely dominated his opponent (David Díaz).

Usyk deserves a mention as well, tremendous fighter.

Usyk is dynamic.
He would have success as a heavy in any era.

 

[fearsomefour]

I love this subject. And I agree with @fearsomefour that MMA has largely taken over but I still way prefer the sweet science of boxing. Even if you’re watching a fight with brawlers like Boom Boom and Sean O’Grady, there was still a technical aspect that is far different than MMA. Don’t get me wrong, I realize there are a lot of nuances to a lot of MMA fights but give me boxing all day long. Unless of course it’s two slobs hugging and throwing the occasional punch. I still enjoy the lighter weights for the most part. But nothing has eclipsed what I feel is the height of boxing - the Leonard, Hearns, Hagler era. And I still feel ole “Hands of Stone” was WAY overrated as he fought like 70 nobodies.

I just wish the heavy weights would get back to being king and have some real stars.

I will disagree that Holyfield was a dirty boxer. He could stand in with the hardest punchers and the quickest hands and would always go toe to toe. If someone fought dirty, he would match them - true. But he was almost always the lighter man in the ring and I think when he jerked a shoulder up it was just more noticeable. If you want to watch possibly the best fight I’ve ever seen, watch the 15 round Holyfield/Qawi fight when Evander was a cruiser weight. What a battle. In the second fight, EH simply overwhelmed Qawi.

My other favorite was Leonard. Maybe another post.

I really enjoyed O'Grady's commentary as well.
I agree with the subtle aspects of boxing.
There are some very good heavy weights now and they are huge....in Europe. That division has almost exclusively shifted to a European division.
Evander in his later years was constantly going into every clinch, or nearly every clinch, leading with his head. He was constantly butting opponents. Some, Im sure, caused by him being a smaller guy. Some pretty clearly intentionally.
I do remember that Qawi fight....it was a relentless battle. Holyfield would never step back, thats for sure. A warrior.