I think Michael Moorer's going to win this fight.
Evander Holyfield comes in with basically two advantages, heart and chin. Neither will make much difference in a tactical battle between two average punchers. Moorer has two advantages himself - the southpaw style and a much better jab. Both will be key, as they were last time. Physical size, speed, and power are basically identical between the two.
Alright, alright, picking Moorer to win may be nuts after he almost lost to Vaughn Bean and Holyfield beat Mike Tyson twice. But I still say this one will be extremely close, like last time, and will go the distance. One key difference this time is that Saint Evander is likely to get a large benefit of judicial discretion against the unpopular Moorer. But he can be controlled by the jab (Bowe, Moorer I, even Ray friggin' Mercer) and I think Moorer will play Ken Norton to Holyfield's Ali. He's got his number.
Oh yeah - if Moorer wins it is going to be the worst fucking thing for boxing. I'm not sure how long Don King's option on Holyfield lasts; if Evander wins we may see a mandatory against an Orlin Norris type before a unification against Lennox Lewis. But if Michael Moorer wins, I guarantee you we'll never see Moorer-Lewis. Instead Moorer will bide his time next Spring against the aforementioned Norris and fight Mike Tyson for the big bucks in the Fall. Besides yielding the most coinage to Moorer, it would give Don King's #1 mealticket a straight shot back to the title. And that would be a shame.
Fearless Prediction #2: George Foreman is going to get his ass kicked Nov. 22. Think about it - he UD's Crawford Grimsley, who is summarily knocked out in 3 seconds by Jimmy Blunder. Then he barely beats Lou Savarese, who was just made to flop around the canvas like a fish by David Izonritei.
Shannon Briggs may wilt and fade in the mid to late rounds, it's certainly possible given some of his fights I've seen. But he has the height, reach, speed, power, and variety of punches to give Big George a fearsome beating over the first 3-5 rounds. The other possibility is that he makes like Tommy Morrison and bicycles his way to a decision (which should be butt-easy for him to do).
Should he win, it will be interesting to see how the new Linear Champ blends into the alphabet belt picture.
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