John Conteh 1974 v Evander Holyfield 1986

[Stevie G]

Most of us recall that John started his career at heavyweight,albeit at the lighter end of the scale. 180 lbs or so. It was,apparently,Muhammad Ali himself who advised him to drop down to the lighter division. Take a 1974 Conteh,with the necessary added poundage,against the '86 Holyfield. I find it a fascinating fight to think about. Both could box,and brawl when necessary. The winner ? I would take Holyfield by a close points verdict. Holyfield,after all was the top OFFICIAL cruiserweight ever. I'm not comparing him to the lighter heavies of old who would have qualified for the cruiser limit. Opinions ?

[Vantage_West]

evan could do a bit of everything. but his boxing was a bit awkward and against a guy who was completly comitted to being a boxer (with some good pop aswell) i think john could pull it off.

but really i think holy was just too big for him and could really go to war. conteh could dig down aswell, but evander was on a different level when it came down to it. i think holyfield outmuscles him to a ud.

[Mantequilla]

Holyfield would probably be too big and he would be able to take Conteh's punches much better than vice versa i feel, despite Conteh being an excellent puncher at that point.He was a massive cruiserweight, whereas Conteh struggled to bulk up beyond the mid 180's when he was fighting heavyweights.

I'd lean towards Holy taking a close bruising decision with maybe a knockdown or two being the difference.Conteh would be a better bet against Qawi.

[sugarsean]

I'll go with Holyfield by Dec or late stoppage