Why was Mike Tyson billed the next great heavyweight? What about Larry Holmes?

I agree..Holmes had more heart and intestinal fortitude in his pinky than Tyson had in his whole body.
I rate Larry top 3 all time.
Larry's prime was actually pretty short 77 to 82 maybe 83.
Prime Holmes beats Tyson in my book.
Great ring General controlled pace well very good right hand and sneaky uppercut good defense Smart and best jab of all time that controlled the fight.
Super fighter.
As u can tell my favorite all time HW Champ

 

I think Holmes was already viewed as great by the time Tyson began taking over the division.

 

Exactly .. their primes did not over lap .. in addition, Holmes was simply never one that had that special "it" factor .. he was a Tunney, an Ezzard Charles type following a legend ... The crowning of Tyson was not just a matter of in the ring but outside of it for the excitement he generated .. in Holmes era Ray Leonard dominated the sport ..

 

Yeah Holmes lacked charisma and a big following. But in my book that doesn't take away from what a man actually does in the ring. He was heavyweight champion through 7 calendar years and 20 title fights. If that isn't greatness then I have yet to understand the concept.

 

Yes, I go with this, and lets not forget that the punch Earnie Shavers decked Holmes with would have KOd the majority of heavyweights at the time. With Larry carrying his left hand low, combined with a perfectly timed Shavers right hand..........

The problem with Larry was, that he was convinced he was following in the shadow of Ali and had a chip on his shoulder on this point. This may well be correct, but personally, I saw them as two different boxers with overlapping careers.

 

Tyson got the "next" billing in 1985/6, by which time the (already great) Holmes was 36 years old and 96% of the way through his 'first' career.

In Larry's case NEXT did not apply.

 

Holmes' legacy, memory and career in general would have been better off had he changed his public image, been a nicer guy, was more careful about what he said and fought a few more of the better available challengers during his reign. With a unified title and fan friendly image Larry could have been loved as much as any champion. But personal agenda and a bad attitude left him out in the cold. Die hard fans will always remember him as great but the casual fan and general public have already pretty much forgotten him.

 

I confess to going into a slight "dislike mode" when Larry Holmes started bad-mouthing fellow pro boxers. I cant remember what interview it was, but a number of years ago, Larry was in front of the camera and reciting an Ali-style poem, which went something like "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, but don't forget, he met Larr-ee". No need for that whatsoever, considering he once called Ali, one of his heroe's.

 

Yeah, and that's life I suppose. Poor Larry's career was sandwiched between two of the most charismatic fighters of all time, namely Ali and Tyson.

I've always gotten the feeling that even more than wanting greatness, Larry wanted universal adoration and appeal, like Ali had.
He just didn't have the charisma. He's been listed on enough top-10 lists to know that fight fans appreciate his talent, so why still bitter even now?
He and Tyson can walk down any street in any city in the world and Tyson would be mobbed. Same for Ali. I doubt poor Holmes is even mobbed in Easton or wherever he lives these days.

It just wasn't meant to be for him, despite his skill.

And his one shot at immortality-going 49-0 or better-was taken from him too. On the contrary, he made history for the wrong reason...the first heavyweight champ to lose his title to a light-heavyweight.

 

Agreed. His fighting style wasn't very appealing to a lot of fans and worse yet his public personality was less than palatable. A lot of people simply didn't like Holmes. Furthermore I think a lot of fans were bitter over the hammering that he gave to a diminished Ali. God I wish that fight had never happened.. It hurt BOTH men but in different ways. As I mentioned before, A friendlier image, a few more fights with some of the better challengers and eliminating the Ali bout might have boosted the public's liking towards him.. But the dice fell where they fell.

 

As mentioned, they weren't even coming along at the same time. Holmes came along 10 years earlier than Tyson.

But, anyway, Tyson was a much bigger draw, a bigger star, because he had an exciting style, frightening power, and media savvy management. He had a story, he was 'Kid Dynamite', the freak man-child destined to be champion.

Holmes had none of that. Holmes was just a regular guy, who happened to be a professional boxer, the best in the world perhaps. A solid professional. He was approaching 30 when he became champ, and he was married with kids, no scandals, lived in the town he grew up in. There was nothing spectacular about him. There was no mystique.

 

I met Holmes several times and Like Frazier Larry was just brutally honest and a lot of people still can't forgive him especially for the Marciano comment which he said in the heat of the moment and personally apologized to the family. He got the shirty end of the stick befor the ****ey fight with parody in the purse and Reagen having a phone line in ****eys dressing room and Time and SI putting him on there covers. He didnt paid his dues like Larry did so I would b ****ed too. The 2 Spinks fights which should've been a draw and a UD for Larry so the man was ****ed I don't blame him.
Yet Tyson for years spit out all this white guys r pussies **** and all other types of anti white **** but he gets a pass. Its bull****.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure why people hate Holmes or consider him particularly bitter.
He's not perfect by any means, said some dumb stuff probably sometimes (we all do), but always comes across as one of the more 'normal' heavyweight champs.
As far as I've heard, he's always been approachable and accommodating towards fans and writers too.

Tyson was an absolute mess for about 20 years, maybe even now, and admits it on a regular basis.

As for Ali, if people actually listened to some of the s--t this guy was saying in the days when he could talk, it's indefensible. I saw a video on youtube recently where he's spouting his bile against mixed-race marriages, and their 'ugly, kinky-haired blue-eyed' offspring, and 90% of the comments agreeing with him were from white supremacist trolls and self-declared "National Socialists"

I used to almost worship Ali when I was a teenager, but as a grown-up I can see he was probably a cretin.

 

Larry committed the cardinal sin of destroying a legend that people loved, and they never forgave him for it. This was followed by every other major event having him being "the bad guy".

To put things in perspective, the Holmes-Ali betting line had moved to nearly even money by fight night. Now, revisionists say it shouldn't have been sanctioned in the first place.

Then, he takes out the great white hope back when that was still a thing.

Finally, he augments that by nearly overstepping another icon when he almost got to 49-0 by picking a LHW, which people were also mad about- both the potential of matching (and surpassing) Marciano, with the perceived cherry pick of Spinks being the cherry on top.

Larry was a damn fine fighter, but that's why people were extra happy to see Tyson take him out. He got miscast as a villain of the time.