I can't see vitali being beaten on the outside. To me he's vulnerable to 3 styles: ambush tactics, infighting and brawling. For me larry could jab his way inside and beat him there. Larry has quicker hands than vitali and punches just as hard. He can land plenty of shots inside. Vitali isn't the clinching type and he'll probably have some success when he times larry on the way in with a counter right. But ultimately he'll lose a close but clear 9-6 type decision.
Vitali has a 100% loss record against birds. The Mallard wins by UD in a tough fight. I don't think anyone, even someone as great as Holmes, has an easy time with Vitali.
the hardest hitting hw ever couldn't stop holmes and he hit him flush,yet a slow arm-puncher is going to stop him?:roll:
Coming back to this thread people are mostly going for Holmes on points. Which is what i went for. No one is doubting that this wouldn't be a struggle for Larry, Vitali is a fine hw and a headache of a problem for anyone. Dr Ironfist gets his props and rightly so, but Larry's skillset is simply superior. Good posts from Hands of Iron + Madman 101. As for Bremen...well even though he needs to get out of his Klitschko bubble, i am starting to see *****s of light in his overall thinking. I think he is slowly but surely seeing that there is more than the bros in the history of the sport. In a year or two he might look back and think...**** did i really say that! We were all young and naive once.
oh yeah about Andrew Maynard, he looked the business at one point. Remember his KO of Butch Hall (i think)... brutal. I don't know were it went wrong but next thing i remember is an old Hearns clapping him around the back of head and doin him in a round. Wasn't he an olympian? Or even medalist? Anyway Holmes UD Vitali.
nice post, puts both "sides" in perspective. i can see the backlash from vitali fans as far too often people dismiss the brothers out of hand when they should be favoured over many past champions. however, this may swing too far and cause people to overestimate their exploits and h2h status
He lacked durability and was probably matched too competitively too early.. Yes. He was the 1988 Olympic Gold medalist and had won several other amateur titles..
The hardest hitting hw ever also couldn't stop 20-25 Bob Stallings, what's your point? Hardest hitting does not equal best ability to stop the opponent. Holmes would be in for a long night here. He doesn't have the power to knock down Vitali (although a cut is possible) and his consistent habit of mixing it up when hurt (or angry) might play into VK's hands. Would be interesting to see how Holmes' jab does against an opponent who has 4 inches and 40 pounds on him and is also fast/athletic. I'm confident this one will go the distance with both men beat up pretty bad. I'm leaning towards Holmes, but style-wise he draws a bad hand meaning he could lose despite being the more accomplished boxer.