Beterbiev v all of Larry Holmes opponents how would he have fared?

Has Beterbiev beaten any *green 6'3 220 switch hitters with good footwork and power in the pros? It's a yes or no question.

 

I could play the exact same game using Beterbiev’s attributes and accomplishments. At least he doesn’t have tits.

 

I didn't know heavyweights had to prove their worth beating up light heavyweights to prove their h2h abilities.

 

You’d think a unified, lineal champ with a perfect ledger would be viewed more favorably than a guy whose “title” was won by close decision against a 244 pound Tony Tubbs.

 

The only advantage that headgear gives a fighter is it helps to prevent cuts from head butts. Other than that it reduces the fighter's vision, and makes the head a larger target and punches that would be slipped without the headgear might land with the headgear. Fighting a 12 or 15 round pro fight is not 4 or 5 times more difficult than fighting an amateur 3 round fight. Amateurs, particularly at a high level, fight at a much faster pace than pros. That is one of the things amateurs have to change when they turn pro. They have to slow their pace for the pro game.

 

Exactly. Loudon has made all sorts of wild claims that don’t line up with the reality of competition.

I believe that headgear raises the chance of TBI and am glad it’s less common now.

Like I said, Beterbiev made a 24 year old Usyk take a knee off a body shot in a heavyweight bout. His power and strength will carry to heavyweight. His chin is more of a question mark because he does get hit.

 

Yes.

Because the guy who beat Tubbs is a 6'3 220 skilled athletic bonafide HW who nearly beat Holmes (a top 10 ATG). Witherspoon at his best was a 2x champion in a 2 year time frame. He'd have a 4 inch height advantage, 5 inch reach advantage, 45 pound weight advantage, is faster, has a tight guard, and hits harder. There isn't a single bookie in Vegas who'd say that Beterbiev should be favored even if he was drunk and high.

This isn't the Jim Jefferies era where light heavyweights are regularly matched up with large skilled heavyweights and it's seen as a reasonable matchup.

And the hilarious part about you calling Witherspoon of the Holmes fight "green" is that Beterbiev has less than 20 fights himself, only 3 more than Witherspoon. The one who beat Tubbs literally had more experience and faced more world class opponents than Beterbiev.

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Please shut up you fake boxing coach and stop spreading misinformation.

Head gear definitely can reduce the pain and impact of a punch. If you ever sparred or fought you'd know this.

 

Witherspoon had more world class loses. I’ll give him that.

 

The Witherspoon who fought Holmes had zero losses.

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I’ve been a fan for over 30 years.

I don’t need an explanation.

My point was obvious:

There’s a huge difference between the amateur game and the pro game.

That was my point, which shouldn’t need explaining to anybody knowledgeable.

Yes, of course they have to change their pace.

That goes without saying doesn’t it.

They’re transitioning from a 9 min fight to a 36 min fight.

Again, Beterbiev has done nothing to suggest that he could be a credible HW in the professional ranks.

 

I know. He was green.

 

So is Beterbiev by your logic.

 

Wild claims?

SMH.

What, for querying whether an 18 fight LHW could be a credible HW in the pros, when he’s NEVER fought there??

Yeah, really wild.

You’ve just said yourself that he has power and strength, but his chin is a question mark, because he gets hit.

YOU have just said that.

So why are you arguing, when YOU have just made that claim??

That’s one of the reasons why I have doubts.

It has nothing to do with how great he is. It’s to do with how he’d match up stylistically.

On a P4P basis, I’m certain that Beterbiev is better than most of the HW division.

However, it’s not about P4P ability.

Again, it’s how they match up H2H.

Beterbiev looks immensely strong. But what would happen, if even a B class HW with power, kept finding his chin??

We simply don’t know.

What you’re doing, is looking at how great Usyk is, noting that Beterbiev beat Usyk, then using that as some sort of evidence that Beterbiev too could rule at HW. But again, it’s not as simple as that.

A B-C class guy like Chisora has no fear. He hasn’t got great skills, but he’s strong, powerful and aggressive. So you’ve no idea what would happen if someone like that had it out with Beterbiev. Until it happens, you don’t know. But I’m definitely reserving judgement.

 

Not when one is a HW, and the other is an 18 fight LHW.