faster hands joe louis or larry holmes?

Louis had quicker puncher release due to the compactness of his shots, but also his style as well of fighting at mid to short range. Larry had to utilise his feet more. But his punch release speed wasn't too shabby.

 

Depends.... Louis was a sharp; inside close puncher with hand speed... Holmes from ring center was faster with jabs and right-cross'..... Holmes is overall quicker than Louis in a "Peak" sense.. Holmes of '76 to '83 was more spry than Louis of '35 to '42... Holmes also being the older fighter via time machine, too....

MR.BILL:hat

 

Holmes is easy faster

 

Holmes had a faster jab and straight right, Louis probably had faster short combinations. If they fought Holmes would get off first all night long

 

Holmes would probably get knocked out

 

Louis's most similar opponents would be Walcott, Schmelling and Conn. Holmes is a tougher proposition than all 3 and the style doesn't suit Louis at all

 

Holmes had faster longer punches, Louis was quicker on the inside.

 

Louis knocked those three out too.

 

He also lost to 2 of them, has a negative rounds won-lost ratio and none were as durable/good/big as Holmes

 

he only lost to Schmeling.
The first Walcott win was disputed. but Louis was past his prime.
Conn was Ko'd twice

he'd be able to hit Holmes. guys like weaver, norton hit Holmes plenty. shavers hit him and hurt him bad. even lesser guys hit him or dragged him into a brawl. holmes was no elusive dancing master
of course holmes would hit Louis too, i just think its most likely he gets knocked out sooner or later
in a very competitive fight

none of this "holmes gets his punches off first all night" fantasy.

 

Louis wasn't exactly immune to getting hurt and dropped either. Holmes would certainly hit Joe, and he'd be severely tested when he did. Holmes would be more dangerous than anyone Joe ever beat.

Great matchup.

 

sure, holmes can drop or hurt Louis.
but of the two of them, i think its most likely Holmes is in the greater danger of being KO'd
it seems to me at least that holmes would have to hurt Louis and keep him hurt for several rounds, piling on the punches for accumulative effects to achieve a stoppage.
but for Louis to KO Holmes it might just take hurting him once and following up with accurate follow up punches.
but im not going to underrate holmes's survival instincts or recovery. i'm just saying.
15 rounds is a long time after all

 

For sure, it's anyones match for mine. This would be a fascinating matchup. Holmes is an excellent finisher when he has his man hurt as well. He doesn't have Joe's slashing combination type finishes but he did get the job done most times.

I find it hard to picture a peak Holmes getting stopped. He was way over the hill and rusty when peak Tyson did it, Joe also got stopped by Marciano in a similar affair. Louis was also stopped two years before he won the world title.

 

i'd pick Louis to knock him out sooner or later but i couldnt say that with any sort of certainty. i wouldn't be shocked to see holmes beat louis or anyone else for that matter
a competitive fight
i just think the strong guys with a bit of skill and aggression always tended to drag holmes into a bit of a brawl, some gave him absolute hell. louis had a habit of getting to his man and turning the heat up sooner or later in a fight, and was a much better finisher than a shavers or a weaver or a snipes and he was a superior boxer too

i can see it going the other way too. but not in the manner PP suggested, "holmes getting his punches off first all night". that's basically impossible, louis was such a great boxer

 

Fair call for sure.