Modern Day Super-Heavys that defeat Holmes of 1978 ?

Id give Lewis the best chance, followed by Bowe.I think I'd pick Larry against both though.

 

Wow, the nostalgia is strong in this thread. Lewis, both Ks, Bowe, and probably Fury and Joshua would take any version of Holmes. Most likely more than them, as well. Holmes struggled against the best, biggest, tallest fighters he faced. Cooney and Williams were probably the best 6'4 or taller fighters he faced and he barely beat them.

Dominant HW champs are generally either bigger than most of their peers or harder hitting. Holmes was somewhat bigger and harder hitting than his peers, but that advantage would be gone now. He would not be suited to the modern advances. He'd be outjabbed (he was by Cooney and Williams, imagine what the others would do to him) and broken down. Holmes was very lucky it was a weak era when he dominated and that Stevenson never turned pro.

 

After rewatching Holmes - Shavers 2 recently i'd go with Lewis tbh. Holmes was more of a clubbing type puncher and most stoppages were due to accumulation. I think Lewis' height reach and right hand would put him in great stead. Shavers would have stopped Larry imo if he was a bit better fighter/finisher. His efforts were terrible immediately following the kd.

 

I agree. Bowe of form would be a nightmare for Holmes. Both at their best is agreat fight imo...Lewis on the other hand imo could be Holmes worst h2h match up. Good jab, monster right hand, physically stronger and cute with it. Plus a natural 2 stone heavier. Holmes is a strong puncher, but he tends to wear you down instead of having 1 punch ko power, so Lewis isn't in danger of getting ko'd.

 

Holmes beats all of them, KO's Wlad , UD over the rest

 

Holmes did drop his jab but so did all the aforementioned fighters. Prime Holmes jab was so good it was a very difficult punch to counter. He beats all the aforementioned fighters due to his dominant jab. He gets it going and opponents just cannot mount a consistent offense of their own.

 

Holmes dropping his jab is going to be more dangerous against bigger, taller fighters with more reach. They will be in better punching range when that jab is dropped.

 

His jab wasn't as versatile or powerful as Wlad's. He isn't out jabbing him.

 

Shavers and Snipes weren't particularly taller or with long reaches though. The fight with Tyson can be excused since Holmes was long past his best and Tyson had extremely fast hands.

 

Were? Weren't? I'm confused.

I'm not saying one has to be tall to give Holmes problems or to take advantage of the jab taken back low. I am saying however for top class fighters such size and reach will indeed come in handy and could make all the difference.

Larry is a great fighter and would beat plenty of ATG's. He's become somewhat overrated however which can be seen in the almost automated responses to so many threads. He struggled against the likes of Snipes, Weaver, Witherspoon (little past prime here) and Shavers at times (going life and death here and there) yet he outboxes so many ATG's in fantasy matches often with nary a worry.

Loads of average to good fighters got around his jab to trouble him greatly. He has no top tier wins, never beating an ATG. He's not waltzing past the likes of Lewis, Bowe and the two Klits imo. At the very least he struggles in all these matches at times and would with the likes of Holyfield, Tyson and co as well for mine.

Great fighter but no certainty over various other (a great many more proven) ATG's.

 

Sorry dude, that should have been weren't. I'm gonna edit it now.

 

I don't know how many people here have seen the full Larry Holmes vs Roy Tiger Williams, but I believe it is an important fight worth watching before deciding how Larry copes with Super Heavyweights.

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There were dozens of fighters in holmes time who could have qualified as SHWs but they weren't stupid enough to gain weight to that extent, as it would have ruined their boxing ability.

 

Exactly. Cooney, Tex Cobb and Truth Williams could easily have been heavier, but it was not thought that it would have improved anything in those days.

Roy Tiger Williams and LeRoy Jones (who Larry fought) really were every bit the Super Heavyweight we have nowadays. And possibly just as good.