I was always under the impression there weren't many good heavyweights in the early 80's other than Larry Holmes. Over the years, I've watched most of the fighters from that era and think there was plenty of talent. The talent was rarely maximized but it was there. Because of all the belts, many of the best fighters didn't face each other. What's the matchup for Larry Holmes that you wish had happened? Holmes vs Page? Holmes vs Coetzee? Bruno? Dokes? Lots of appealing matchups were possible.
At the time I thought Holmes/Dokes was the matchup. But looking back I think Larry would expose him, and also beat the crap out of him
I would have loved to see Holmes against Page, Dokes, Coetzee and Thomas. Good match ups. I think rematches against Weaver and Witherspoon would have been potentially top fights too.
I think Dokes and Thomas would've been my picks. Been interesting to see how Holmes handled Dokes' speed and the Thomas Jab. Page is the one 80's heavy I need to watch more of. The few fights I've seen he's not in top shape & usually seems to be cruising.
Holmes vs Foreman would have been interesting in 92 through 95. But by the time they scheduled the fight in 99. Both men skills had really eroded.
Watch him against Monroe, Ward, LeDoux, Tillis, Snipes and Coetzee. That will give you a good idea of what he brought to the table.
Post Cooney Holmes was past his best so seeing a 90% Holmes fight any of the Page/Dokes/Thomas gang does not drive me wild even though I feel Holme thru 84 beats them all .. I would have liked to see a Norton rematch which was derailed by the Shaver's KO loss, a Weaver immediate rematch and a title unification against Tate pre-Weaver ..
Larry Holmes vs Ron Lyle in early 1978. Ron Lyle and Larry Holmes both fought on a Night of the Heavyweights Card on NBC shortly before Ali-Shavers in the fall of 1977. Holmes and Lyle signed a contract at the end of 1977 to fight in early 1978. But Lyle was arrested on New Year's Eve (for shooting another ex-con who pulled a gun on him in his home during a New Year's Eve party) and Earnie Shavers was brought in to replace Lyle. Holmes easily beat Shavers over 12 rounds. Lyle had delivered a pretty brutal beating to Joe Bugner in 1977. I think his style and Holmes' would've meshed well. Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton II in late 1978. Their epic first fight warranted a rematch. Holmes made an easy first defense against Evangelista at the end of 1978 (and Norton knocked out Randy Stephens on the undercard). But the WBC wanted Norton and Shavers to fight an eliminator in early 1979, and Shavers stopped Norton in one. Norton never matched up well with punchers like Shavers, but he matched up well with boxers like Holmes (and Ali). I'd have rather seen Holmes and Norton rematch (instead of both taking tuneups) in the fall of 1978. Shavers' win over Norton removed any lingering interest in a Holmes-Norton rematch. Larry Holmes vs Jimmy Young in early 1979. Young lost to Ossie Ocasio in a pretty huge upset on the Holmes-Norton undercard. Ocasio was basically a novice. Young looked like he hadn't trained at all. Holmes agreed to give the winner of the Young-Ocasio rematch in San Juan a title shot in early 1979. Again, most people, including Larry, thought Jimmy Young would win. Instead, Ocasio outpointed Young again and got the title shot. I think Holmes and a fit Jimmy Young getting a second title shot would've been a closely fought battle. For some reason, though, Ocasio had Jimmy's number. Those are the ones I personally missed because they seemed so close to actually happening.
Thomas of course. He did better against common opponents Witherspoon and Weaver, and Larry ducked him, so obviously Thomas would have had a good chance of beating him. The version of Witherspoon he beat was arguably better than the one Holmes beat. To bad he was a junkie.
Definitely a Foreman fight anytime in Larry's career, and although he would have probably won, I would have liked to see Holmes's first defense against Ken Norton in a rematch.
Dokes was Larry's sparring partner for around a year. And Larry said Dokes couldn't handle his jab in his old website.
