Round 1-4 would be very live. I think Holmes would take over in the mid rounds, and probably finish Tyson later, who had swelling issues and seemed to lose energy, poise, and resolve when facing adversity. Tyson has very few late round TKO's/KO's I'd pick Holmes here.
It was a comment that claimed Holmes WHIPPED fighters on bad nights and when he was over the hill. Reading comprehension.
Holmes still had life in him in 88.. If he was good enough to beat Tyson in his prime , he should have been good enough to at least win half of a round in 88. Seeing him blown away in such an noncompetitive manner shows me he'd have a tough time even in his prime. Mike was developed to beat that style
Tyson stops Larry in around 6 or 7 rounds. Holmes even at his best was susceptible to right hands, you could get to him with a right hand. You can’t convince me that Snipes hit harder than Tyson, Shavers sure but he was not a good finisher, The list is long of fighters that Shavers decked but didn’t finish. Someone said Holmes wasn’t Prime against Witherspoon but then a sentence later mentioned Tyson vs Holyfield, well Tyson wasn’t prime there so people seem to be picking and choosing versions of each fighter to push their proposed outcome. From Berbick to Spinks Tyson was a Boxing loving machine, programmed to destroy. He’s a handful for any fighter EVER. Larry will be hurt at some point and when that happens he’ll try and fight back and Tyson will finish him. Tyson’s peak a boo defense coupled with his great head movement and ability to slip under the jab will get him inside on Larry and he will rip him to the body and come over the top with right hands and left hooks, both punches were lethal, he’ll hurt Holmes badly. Tyson is a lighting fast two fisted puncher and a great finisher.
I agree except for two things: 1) People compare Shavers and Tyson's power as if it's debatable; it's not. It is a fact that Shavers hit harder. Both men's power has been measured and Shavers' is significantly harder. Not to mention, James Tillis fought a washed-up Shavers and a prime Tyson, and still said Shavers hit much harder. Therefore the argument that Tyson hit harder is ridiculous. But I'll concede he hit harder than everyone else on the list. Also, Tyson misses a lot when he throws. The guys I mentioned weren't as accurate, true, but Shavers and Weaver were far better timers than Tyson ever was.
none of those being fair picks with Larry being past it. Although they were all fast, you don't have fast opponents from Larry's prime cuz no one was close to Larry's speed.
I'm confused how you can like what I say, and then what NoNeck says when we're in direct opposition to one another. You just like us arguing? That guy is agitatin'.
Let's see here, who'd Tyson go toe-to-toe with? Oh ya, Douglas, Holyfield, McBride... L KO, L KO, L KO. You'll say "Well Tyson wasn't in his prime (kind of like Holmes in 1988)." Sounds familiar doesn't hit. Larry won lots of wars: Norton, Weaver, Shavers, Berbick, Spinks, Snipes, Cooney, Witherspoon, Bonecrusher, Mercer... must I go on? Tyson has so many tough fights he won, right? Like the two slugfests with the bum Razor Ruddock... and uh-and... there is nobody else. Tyson didn't know how to win a war BIG.
A fact proven by who? Not that it matters much, because Shavers had none of Tyson's hand speed, combinations, finishing ability or accuracy. Pretty much every time Earnie stepped up in class, he didn't get the KO, except Kenny Norton, who wasn't exactly the most iron-chinned of fighters. You think Earnie 'swing for the fences' Shavers had better timing than Tyson? Have you even seen any of their fights?
If you've every seen the measurements they take from boxers' best and hardest punches, Shavers comes out #1, and there's a few btwn him and Tyson. Yes, Shavers was wild most of the time. But watch the right uppercut the fells Ellis, the left hook the drops Lyle, and the right overhand that decks Larry. All three punches were carefully timed. Shavers measured all three fighters before he dropped them. And fyi, I've seen every Shavers fight every filmed except Henry Clark I, and I've seen a lot of Tyson fights. Tyson throws a lot of flurries, and a lot of them miss. I think Tyson was accurate when he committed to a single knockout punch.
