While former two-time Heavyweight Champion Michael Moorer lost to Evander
Holyfield, he also gained some respect. Moorer, who has sleepwalked through
his last four bouts, came to fight. Even though he weighed an unsightly 223
pounds, Moorer fought very competitively with Holyfield. The fight, in my
opinion, was about even until Holyfield began to knock Moorer down.
In the first round, both fighters seemed evenly matched. It was an
even round until Moorer stunned Holyfield temporarily, with a right and a
follow-up combination. I gave the round to Moorer.
In the second, Moorer appeared to be out-fighting Holyfield. He landed
sharp punches throughout the round.
In the third, Holyfield began to take control. About half-way through
the round, Holyfield and Moorer clashed heads, and a cut opened over
Holyfield's right eye. The cut appeared to motivate Holyfield. He became
more aggressive and he took the round.
In the fourth, Moorer used his jab to score on Holyfield. Moorer out-
hustled Holyfield and narrowly won the round.
In the fifth, Moorer seemed to be throwing pitty-patt punches, but they
were landing, and often. Late in the round, Holyfield landed a devastating
right and Moorer toppled to the canvas. He got up at seven and was able to
last the round.
In the sixth, Moorer didn't appear hurt from the previous round. The
tempo slowed down and Moorer took the round.
In the seventh, Holyfield stunned Moorer right after the minute-mark.
He followed up and put Moorer down, with a combination punctuated by a hard
right uppercut. Holyfield swarmed him and put Moorer down about thirty
seconds later. Moorer fought back and survived the round.
In the eighth, Holyfield put Moorer down with a left-right combination.
When the action resumed, Holyfield cracked Moorer with a right hand. A
combination, ending with a crunching uppercut, send Moorer down hard. Moorer
got up, but was saved by the bell. Referee Mitch Halpern stopped the fight
on the physician's advice.
Holyfield may have have partially unified the WBA and IBF Heavyweight
titles, but his victory was not overly convincing. Until he began to hurt
Moorer, Holyfield struggled throughout the first four rounds. It appeared
that if Moorer would've had a chin, he would have won the fight. In
addition, Moorer weighed in at 223 pounds. Considering that Moorer weighed
214 (and was still a little flabby) against Vaughn Bean earlier this year,
you have to wonder if he would've given Holyfield more trouble if he was in
shape.
Now, Holyfield is looking foward to a greater challenge, fighting Lennox
Lewis. Will Holyfield be able to fight effectively against the much larger
Lewis? Will he be able to handle Lewis' enormous reach? Well, there's only
one thing for sure, this will probably be the biggest Heavyweight fight of this
decade. This fight will be the Tyson-Spinks of the 90's, but hopefully it will
last longer than 90 odd seconds. If the Holyfield-Moorer card was $45.95,
you can expect around $60 for this one.
