Prime Larry Holmes vs Mike Tyson

Good outside boxing alone isn't enough to beat Tyson, he will get inside at some point, it's about what you do when he does get inside, and I don't see much of an inside game from Holmes, just look at all of Tyson's losses before his last 2, they jabbed him, but when Tyson did get inside, they handled him and fought him back and that wasn't Holmes's game, I pick Tyson against any Holmes

 

Tyson by KO

 

Well, speaking of inside game, check out what Larry did to Weaver in round 12.

If Buster Douglas beat Tyson, Holmes jabs the bejesus out of him, starts landing the uppercut, and stops him in 10.

Buster Douglas on his best night wasn't anywhere near 1980 Larry Holmes, uh-uh.

 

Nailed it.

 

Very good breakdown. You can argue how many rounds it'd go for, but the general pattern would probably resemble this.

 

Wilfredo Benitez and Terry McGovern both peaked in their early 20s, if not their teens, and both were done by their mid-20s.

 

Tyson turned pro at 18. To say he had had not only peaked, but was already done within less than 5 years is laughable. I can easily buy that he took Douglas lightly but him being past prime is non-sense.

 

My initial thought was Larry takes him the long haul and wins...but I can’t help thinking eventually Mike catches him and the same thing happens. He just probably lasts longer or it goes to the cards with the knock downs giving mike the edge.

 

I didn't say anything about Douglas. I just gave an example of two fighters who had success at an unusually young age, as Tyson did, and also declined at a young age.

 

Hence why I said "most fighters" don't hit their peak and pass it by 23 years of age.

 

I've noticed a lot of fans get wowed by Holmes's jab and dance routine and mistake it for masterful boxing. Holmes wasn't an awful boxer of course, but his abilities tend to get overblown in this regard, and certain qualities are ascribed to him which he never satisfactorily demonstrated in the ring.

For instance his ability to control fighters with his jab: he could do it for short stretches, and against lesser opponents he could do it for a whole fight if necessary. But against anyone with a degree of craft and/or movement he quickly found himself trading at close range and needing to fight opponents off.

Witherspoon was about as plodding as they come, yet Holmes couldn't keep him off him and ended up in a close quarters brawl where his guts and dogedness had to come into play in order to win the day. This same pattern happened more than once. Sometimes it wasn't even the opponent but Holmes himself who initiated these exchanges. It's like there were two warring impulses in his soul, the desire to box at range and the desire to be in a street fight, and they often made for inconsistent performances.

Holmes certainly had the tools to beat Tyson, but his actual performances don't give me confidence he'd be able to employ them in a winning gameplan. Sooner or later I think he'd take his eye off the ball, or tempt fate and trade with Tyson, which would lead to his downfall.

 

Most fighters aren't world heavyweight champion at the age of 20 and on their tenth title defence by the age of 23. So yeah I'd put Tyson in the same bracket as Benitez and McGovern in that respect.

I don't think he was past prime for Douglas. He probably took him lightly, which coincided with an unexpectedly awesome performance from Buster, a bit like Baer-Braddock. And he had a style that isn't conducive to a long career anyway. I think his prime lasted until he went to prison.

 

Holmes would win a decision. Sorry Tyson fans, that's what Mike Tyson says about it.

 

Witherspoon fought Larry about a year past his prime.

For proof of Holmes' boxing mastery, watch the first Shavers fight. There are few more masterful examples of boxing in the heavyweight history...it's what could be termed boxing as art. Tyson wouldn't have done any better. Probably worse. The Holmes that came down off his toes after the Norton fight would have had Tyson stumbling worse than Holy did in 10 rounds. Tyson couldn't have got past that jab.

Watch PRIME Berbick against Holmes...though he wasn't near the fighter Mike was, he was always coming in, and had a more than respectable punch. Holmes dominated him miserably The best Mike could do would have been to make it the distance. Except, I don't think Mike had the stamina Berbick did, to be honest.

Get prepared to be schooled by that video. Holmes was a boxing master, period. Not 60s Ali level....but nobody else was, either.

Grasshopper.

 

Witherspoon wasn't even in his prime when he fought Holmes.