Does anyone still think that Larry Holmes is always Ali's sparring?

Holmes takes it out: "Today's boxing I hate one thing: they talk about all the heavyweights in history, they talk about everyone ... except me. They show the matches of Ali, Frazier, Foreman, of all these guys, but they never show my matches. This makes me feel a little sad, but now I've learned to live with it. I'll take care of my value. Because I know I was one of the great heavyweights of history, it's just a shame that the boxing world does not want to give me credit that I deserve".

In your opinion.. is Holmes an underrated fighter, an overrated fighter or can he inserted among the 5 best HWs ever without hurting anyone? And above all how much did Holmes have to be considered obnoxious during his career?

 

Holmes is absolutely top 5, I'm splitting hairs between him and Lewis for 3!
Holmes >>> Wlad, Foreman, Johnson, Frazier, Holyfield, Marciano or Dempsey.
Deal with it.
Anyone who sees Holmes solely as Ali's sparring partner *cough* @HOUDINI *cough* shouldn't open their mouth in discussions surrounding him.

 

Anyone who knows Boxing knows Holmes is a great, great fighter. Who gives a **** what some silly dumb ass thinks?

 

Where and when wa this quote from ?

 

In recurrence of his 70 years. interview by boxingsc***e.com

 

Absolutely!

 

Definitely overshadowed and under appreciated in his time.

But his plea always had a bitter tone to it, and it never came off well. But he’s just human, I can understand his sentiments.

 

He’s a lock for the top 5 in my opinion, if he isn’t in your top 10 your nuts

But man his bitterness can get annoying.

He’s got money and his health to comfort him.

Hearing him talk about the Ali fight makes me sick.

 

Holy ****, Holmes is 70 years old now?

 

Gotcha.

 

Top 3. Yea I feel hes still underappreciated

 

Top 5 certainly. I have him at 4 or 5 depending on the day.

 

Maybe he should get a movie.

Holmes came from poverty taking care of his younger siblings. His father appeared only sporadically and they lived on welfare. The kid from unremarkable Easton of all cities becoming a sparring partner to "the greatest" was just the beginning.

You've got a guy who kept his brains, money, and legacy intact. He ducked no one and was involved in plenty of amazing classic ring wars. Owns many properties, has plenty of kids who havent said anything bad about him, faithful to his wife, and plenty of stories both hilarious (trevor berbick brawl) and heart wrenching (facing off against his former stable mate). Love him or hate him, Homes' has a one of a kind and inspirational American success story regardless of your ethnic background.

Both the boxing fans who dont appreciate him and the current generation of movie goers can certainly learn from this tough as nails hard worker.

 

If it was Ali being bitter and saying things like "why don't they show my fights" and all that, people would be agreeing with him. People are so up his ass I'm surprised he could even sit down! Holmes was great, and also a great guy!

 

Exactly the same here. And let's be fair, one could put up a pretty good argument for the top 5 to be interchangeable depending on criteria and what you are weighting. Everybody seems to have Ali as #1, but, if he'd had a loss to Cooper and dropped a couple to Norton, he might very well not be #1 at all. So it's pretty debateable.

I think Holmes suffers a bit from the Wlad Synrdrome: at his best he made his opponents look like bums and people write his opposition off as weak and useless.