Just rewatched this after god knows how long and if Tim had had enough stamina to turn it on he would have had Larry out of there i reckon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ugYP9Q6bA It strengthens my belief that a 74-75 Ali would still have had enough to put Holmes away and if he had tagged Larry like that he sure as hell wouldn't have let him off, with maybe another stoppage similar to the Lyle bout?
Tim had serious power, I wonder how Larry never went down after taking those punches. Witherspoon was young and in great shape, yet he was unexperienced. I think the fight was even 114-114. Great fight. Theat round was the best rd of the year for sure.
I still have Holmes winning by 2 or 3 rounds. For some reason Holmes gets so much heat on this forum while Lennox Lewis is treated like the second coming of the Lord. I don't get it.
The idesa that Ali could have put Holmes away is ludicrous. Ali was nothing like Witherspoon as a puncher, and Holmes was an uncanny survivor anyway. At no point does any version of Ali "put him away." That's crazy. I agree that he is constantly downgraded here while others who were put flat on their behinds twice in their prime (Lewis) are overblown some.
Well it's pretty obvious that you are a huge Holmes fan. You overrate his abilities quite a bit. Lewis was the better, more versatile fighter, fought and beat more quality opposition and actually unified the titles unlike Holmes who never made much of an effort to do so.
I can say the same thing about u regarding Lewis and his abilities so that's a pretty stupid way to start off. I don't need to be demeaned by u. U have your oppinions I have mine. Most ATG HW lists have Holmes higher.
I'm actually not a fan of Lewis at all. I think he is an arrogant **** but everything I said is pretty much a cold hard fact, not an opinion. Lewis fought better opposition, unified the titles and quite clearly had superior all round skills. It's actually about even now for current lists I have seen now with Lewis being ranked higher than Holmes. The only reason Lewis was ranked lower than Holmes was because of American fanboys like you who wouldn't objectively look at Lewis' career and would dismiss his place in history in favor of their hometown hero. 10 years ago if you put Lewis on a top 10 ATG list you would be mocked, now he is a consensus top 5.
Sal, maybe i worded that a bit too favourably in Ali's favour. What i was trying to imply is that Ali was a good finisher when he had his man hurt but looking at it, you are correct in that Spoon had enough power in the first place to jelly Larry's legs, whereas Ali may struggle to get that same hurt going but IF he did i am confident he could finish it ala Lyle. For the record guys, i have Holmes third on my list at HW.
Lotta grit from Holmes. Mon Dieu, though, what Dempsey, Louis, Frazier or Marciano would have done to his ribs!
I don't know what the hell an American fan boy means but I do know I don't like being called that. You can bring out all the stats u want but u will never convince me that Lewis was more skilled than Holmes. I'm actually laughing out loud right now at that statement.
My intention is not to sway your opinion on who is better(an exercise in futility), but going back to the first post of your's that I responded, to inform you on why Lewis gets the respect over Holmes on the forum.
Holmes was 33 and while Witherspoon only had 14 fights he was young, in terrific condition and highly motivated .. in addition, he was a long time sparring partner of major talent ... Tim was a big puncher and he really managed to rage Holmes with some solid shots .. Holmes showed a real ability to take punishment and bounce back fast w a huge heart .. it was a hell of a round , a very close fight but I've seen far worse decisions ..
Yeah. Lewis is ridiculously overrated by many. He's the only HW champ to get taken out early by fighters on the level of McCall and Rahman when he held the title. The only one. Holmes is a much greater fighter, with much better whiskers!
Lewis would never lose twice to a light heavyweight. Johnson got knocked out by Choinshki, Dempsey got KO'd by Fireman Flynn, Louis KO'd by Schmeling. Do these losses dimish their legacies? Are you going to pretend that McCall or Rahman were at Lewis' level? You conveniently leave out the fact that Lewis avenged the loses in brutal fashion. Now when did Holmes avenge any losses, or unify any titles for that matter? Yeah that's right NEVER.:yep
But Lewis got fukkin flattened, TWICE, by C level opposition. He was looking for that soft spot on the canvas while murmuring num num num and choking on baby food. Dude got sparked hard. Holmes pisses in Lennie's butt.