Prime Larry Holmes vs Mike Tyson

Wow alot of speculation here. What was Holmes record befor his first loss at what 35 yrs old?? What was Tysons record when a cheap imitation of a prime Holmes named Douglas beat him from one side of the ring to the other.
Thank God for Holmes that a killer like Kevin McBride wasnt around in his day.

 

Kevin McBride?

Grow up. We're having a serious discussion here.

 

Douglas was 6'4 Holmes was 6'3...Douglas was a soft 230 Prime Holmes was 212. Holmes also had proven stamina over 15 and did everything levels above Douglas so believe what makes you happy.
Let me edit in Douglas was a one trick pony. Holmes was an ATG

 

Your telling me to grow up lol. You've been taking cheap shots at me on multiple replies on this topic then I bring up a guy that knocks out your man and that's your response lol maybe look in the mirror and check who needs to grow up

 

Want to bring in Butterbean as well? Is that the level you want to stoop to?

 

Sometimes ATG's can be greatly troubled by non ATG. That version of Douglas would have been certainly one of the best a prime Holmes ever faced.

 

Guess that depends on you since your the cheap shot artist. BTW Holmes beat the Bean

 

Maybe Pete Rademacher beats Mike Tyson?

 

Yes that version would have. Still dont see him winning.

 

Tyson was trained specifically to beat Holmes. D'Amato and Jacobs thought he'd be the one who eventually dethroned Holmes and they spent hours going through footage of him and working on exploiting his weaknesses. So yeah if there was any all-time great Tyson was going to beat, it was Holmes.

I think the right hand is the key. Right hands were like kryptonite for Holmes and a number of fighters of varying ability were able to hurt and/or drop him with it all through his career. At some point, Tyson is going to land his. And Tyson never just landed once. I don't care what Holmes says about Norton or Shavers or whoever hitting harder, he never faced anyone with Tyson's speed, power and combinations. Larry was a warrior at heart and once he got hurt, his instinct would be to fight his way out of trouble. Big mistake.

I also think it plays out a lot like '88. Holmes fought on for another decade after losing to Tyson, beat Mercer, lost competitive fights with Holyfield and McCall, and no one ever destroyed him the way Tyson did. He wasn't even dropped in his comeback, unless you count Butterbean.

 

I think Douglas wasn't 6'4" . Holmes never was undisputed champion but Douglas was. Holmes' prime era is
very questionable. Basically Tyson was far better against the common opponents than Holmes. .
And don't forget only Tyson could beat the **** out of Holmes !

 

Woot! He's sure to knock out a prime Tyson then.

 

I rate Tyson above Holmes due to better competition and dominance. It'll catch on with time.

 

Douglas is listed at 6'4 but does it really matter. How cares about undisputed we all know who the Champ was if you were living in that era
You can only fight who's available in your era the men who are Champions unfortunately cant change that.
Yes Tyson did KO a 37 out of the ring for 2 yrs Holmes who took the fight to pay off or was it buy some real estate in 87? When he was already slipping in 83. Tyson also got the #### beat out of him by Kevin McBride and quit like he quit against Lewis and like he bite Holys ear off not once but twice in order to get disqualified so whatever makes you sleep better at night

 

Those are all good points. Holmes frequently displayed a real blindspot to right hands and wasn't hard to hit clean if you had a bit of ability.

There's this narrative that the prime Holmes was some sort of defensive master that would just dance around Tyson like a matador around a bull peppering him with non-stop jabs while deftly avoiding everything Mike threw at him. Perhaps an exaggeration, but I suspect for a lot of posters that isn't too far off the mark. If Holmes has success he does so by gutsing it out, taking Mike into deep waters then stopping him late. That's certainly possible, but I don't think it's the most probable outcome.