Bet on an undedog part II

Continuing in the lines of recent thread and willing to see more people pissed. Again, bet 100 $ for the underdog with best chance. Hopefully a bit more competitive fights this time

Lennox vs Bonecrusher Smith
Foreman vs Chris Byrd
Tyson vs Ron Lyle
Holyfield vs Tony Tucker
Holmes vs Jimmy Young

 

This one is easy

Bonecrusher Smith, because of his power and Lennox's sometimes lax training, has the best chance by far, IMO

By best chance, I mean 1 in 100

 

I dont like the Tyson style at all for Lyle, & the speed would be a factor too. A shame, because Lyle has some good qualities for a fight with Tyson which are going to waste.

Ditto with Byrd against Foreman.

I think Id go with Smith on Lewis too. It would only take one wrong move...

 

Good list. This proves that you know some boxing.

Very difficult but after much deliberation:

Holmes - Young would be my choice.

 

On paper, sure. but not in reality. You forgot the intangibles. When Lennox is faced with an obvious threat (in terms of power and size) he destroys them. He would never be lax.

I was initially thinking as you have done, but seeing it as Lewis was KO'd by Rahman and McCall and so is vulnerable to punchers is too simplistic and juvenile a thinking.

 

Tucker wouldn't beat Holyfield in 1000 tries. Stylewise it's virtually impossible for him.

Foreman's intensity would be too much for tiny Byrd.

Tyson would WRECK Lyle every time. Too much speed, too much power.

Lennox would take Bonecrusher seriously and as such would CRUSH him.

I have to say Young-Holmes because although larry would beat him 9 times out of 10, Young could be an awkward son of a bitch to fight.

 

Its not a good style matching for Young at all, though.

 

Tucker vs. Holyfield. I don't know wtf D&M means about Tucker's style being wrong for Holyfield. How so? Tucker was durable, tall and strong. Holyfield was not a dominant heavyweight. He was a over-achiever who won the hearts of many, and made for entertaining fights. He lost to Larry Donal for Kris sakes.

Second place is Young vs. Holmes because Holmes never had an easy fight except Marvis Frazier, and he's over-rated, over-confident, and let's his emotions get the best of him.

 

Yes, let's hold the Donald loss against him.

What's the matter with you, Doub?

 

I think this is an easy pick of Byrd over Foreman. The other fighters have minimal/no chance at all. Foreman consistently lost the majority of rounds he fought against halfway decent boxers, and while byrd might be eye cancer, he could certainly outbox george.

 

I think what makes Holy-Tucker somewhat interesting is the fact that Holyfield didn't shine against 40+ Foreman and Holmes although he beat both with room to spare. It is easy to see Tucker giving him a good fight but beating him is a long shot of course

 

The matter with me? Holyfield went to war with Cooper and Dokes, lost twice to Bowe and lost to Moorer, barely won a round against Lewis in their first fight, when Lewis was fighting to win, and Tucker has no shot at all of beating him?

The Donald loss came late in his career, but it's still informative given he was dominated to such an extent.

 

No it's not.

 

Ludicrous.

Foreman was no Tua. He was huge, tall, strong, two-fisted power and his intensity was ridiculous. Byrd was wiped out by Ibeabuchi and Wlad, and this is the type of danger that he'd be in from the opening bell, but worse.

 

This is why I say Tucker never beats Holyfield.

Tucker had a decent punch but nothing special, his workrate was mediocre as was his speed. Tucker wouldn't hurt Evander, Evander wouldn't hurt Tucker....so it goes the distance every single time.

Who would win the decision, every single time? The guy with the greater speed, combination punching, workrate.

Evander 1000 times out of 1000.

Tucker cannot win that fight, he has nothing in his arsenal that can neutralize Holyfield's advantages.

 

I'll go with Byrd as having the best shot.

 

I would be real interested to see what happens next if Lyle was the first to land a big salvo on Tyson.

 

Nothing.

Tyson smiles at him and proceeds to fuck him up.

 

I think its a bad fight for Lyle personally, but you never know.

 

My order:

Holmes-Young - agree w/ Sly, Young has a - whatever is the opposite of a puncher's chance, of beating Holmes at least once.
Holyfield-Tucker - it's possible that Tucker is outclassed in every category but at his very best might land enough to steal one from Holy, who was never hard to find.
Foreman-Byrd - Can see Byrd stinking out the joint and squeaking one out, just as easily as I can see him getting flattened in near-record time.
Smith-Lewis - I guess if McCall could do it, then...
Tyson-Lyle - no shot whatsoever. At best, Lyle is stopped on his feet, but absorbing a record amount of punches in the process.

 

Yup

Young did his best work when he could outmaneuver guys, especially if they were being aggressive

He is not outmaneuvering Holmes and he's got nothing to counter that jab

 

Sly, you are clearly missing the point of the thread

you are reacting to these as if people are really picking these guys to beat this or that legend

 

no.

I fully understand the point of the thread and my posts have made this clear.
I know that no one is actually picking these guys to win...we are merely picking who has the best chance of winning.

I stand by Young/Holmes

 

despite it making little sense

 

How does it make little sense? Holmes didn't have an easy time with anyone - it's what made his fights exciting - the fact he'd get knocked down, lose rounds, eek decisions.

Hell, the best performance of his career, against Norton, he arguably lost.

 

YOung has NOTHING for that jab

no power, can't attack at all

 

What and Lewis-Smith makes sense, when Lewis has blown away every even slightly dangerous man placed in front of him?

He took both Rahman and McCall lightly in the first fights, in the rematches when he recognized the threats he dominated.

Those that he knew were a threat coming into the fights: Tyson, Ruddock, golota, Grant, Tua, Morrison...etc....well you need me to explain?

 

Young vs Holmes i think. Lyle would certainly have a chance against Tyson, too.

 

Byrd could potentially stink out the joint and win a decision against Foreman. Not at all likely, but it's a possible scenario.

There are literally zero scenarios in which Young or Lyle could beat Holmes and Tyson, respectively. The talent gap AND the style matchups are both horribly against them.

 

Young beat Lyle and Foreman and split decisions with Ali & Norton in fights he might have won. I don't see a guy lacking in talent and I don't see his style being much less problematic for Holmes than for Ali.

Holmes favourite, sure. Zero scenario Young could win at his best? Not the way I see it, at all.

I agree Tyson would be a heavy favourite against Lyle but Lyle would be at least among the very best guys Tyson ever beat.