Larry Holmes worst opponent

Lucien Rodriguez, got knocked out by Evangelista 3 times, pretty much an accomplishment:roll:

 

I think Rodriguez, Zanon and Ledoux are looking at a three way tie.

 

It's sad to say this but it's got to be Ali, the man was a zombie that night and it's the only fight that's ever had me in tears.

Whoever was pushing for Ali to fight Holmes should be disgusted with themselves, still can't believe Dundee didn't pull him out earlier!

 

Rodriguez.

 

sounds good throw in the overrated and overfed Leroy Jones for a 4 way tie

 

I would say Butterbean, after all he beat that fat tub of lard at 52 years old, and it wasn't even close...


Also jamie howe, eddie gonzales, and tim doc anderson, get honorable mention..

 

There are really too many to consider. Larry was not shy about lining up tomato cans and shooting them with a BB gun. So many poor defenses, it was embarrassing. And even Weaver, who turned out to be pretty good, had a shoddy 19-8 record when he got his shot. Larry was in it for the money and did what he could get away with. It's impossible to say who sucked the most out of Zanon, Evangelista, LeDoux, Jones, Rodriguez, Frank, Cobb, etc. etc.. They were all journeymen trialhorses, guys who deserve credit for being in the sport as long as they were, but not world title challengers by a long shot. Oh, except Weaver who, as I said, turned his career around and became a dangerous guy.

 

Paul Poirer

 

Apparently it was Herbert Muhammad Ali's manager who told Dundee to stop the fight. Dundee would've let Ali go out on his shield.

You watch the espn doc "Larry and Muhammad"? Saddest thing seeing Ali doing road work 2 months before the fight labouring to get his legs off of the ground. He became what he called Foreman in Zaire.."The Mummy".

 

Ali was a grown up man and is ultimately responsible for his own actions and decisions. He was too fool hardy and arrogant for his own good.

 

this is all true and I am glad I was not the only one who saw it, in fact most of Holmes opponents who turned out to be good were given a title shot either before they were good and gaining confidence from fighting Holmes. Holmes fought them with 10,12,13,14,15,16 fights in total, his best fight was against the 19-8 Weaver who had him hurt a few times in their fight (Weaver gained status after Holmes but no rematch) Cooney was his best defense IMO

In retrospect some of Holmes opponents were good opponents but if you look at the timing of when they fought Larry you can see Larry got them in the cradle and never rematched

Shavers was dangerous but lost all the Big ones and some small ones except the Norton fight (Ken lost to every puncher that had a pulse) Shavers could hurt anyone but usually lost anyway

 

I've actually watched footage of Leroy Jones and believe it or not he wasn't that bad of a fighter. Sure he was carrying about 20 extra lbs he didn't need in the Holmes fight, but he's not a candidate for " worst Holmes opponent."

 

LeRoy Jones had a victory over Mike Weaver. Frank had just held Renaldo Snipes to a draw. LeDoux had just beaten Marty Monroe.

The Europeans were the worst in my opinion....Zanon, Rodriguez, Evangelista. The European title in those days didn't mean anything...you didn't have to be a good fighter to win it. Don't get me wrong....I respect these guys and I don't think any fighter should be made fun of, but Holmes was taking it easy. You can make a case for Evangelista getting his shot, as Larry had just been to war with Norton, and Alfredo hadn't been totally exposed yet. Zanon had already been flattened by Norton and an ancient, pathetic Jerry Quarry. Everyone knew he couldn't take a punch. He had no business getting a title shot. Rodriguez had, as someone already mentioned, been KO'd by Evangelista three times, wasn't young, and was already an obvious journeyman. These were frustrating times...so many meaningless title fights.