Jimmy Young was a very tricky boxer, who was able to somehow beat George Foreman and, debatably, Muhammad Ali as well. But would he be able to achieve similar success against Larry Holmes in a 15 round bout?
Jimmy Young certainly had the tendency to make great fighters look unimpressive and on occasion even upset them. So a Young decision isn’t out of the question. My hesitation is that a lot of judges didn’t seem to care for his elusive style. That, and a prime Holmes would likely be a greater problem than the aging version of Ali who Young actually fought. I’m thinking that the smart money would be on Larry
Well the opportunity was right in front of Jimmy and all he had two do was beat Ossie Ocasio. In two tries he came up short. I think Larry wins a decision in a fairly boring fight.
Holmes by decision in a fairly uneventful fight, thankfully Norton got the nod vs Young. And we were treated to Norton vs Holmes, which was 10 times better fight than Young vs Holmes would've been.
Holmes could be aggressive when he had to be, and he would be here. Holmes by fairly uneventful and boring decision. I do think we'd see a more flat-footed version of him, and that underrated body attack.
Quote by Larry Holmes -- "Nobody looks good fighting Jimmy Young. Nobody". He would know, he worked for Young as a sparring partner when young.
Holmes would outwork him in an ugly fight. Young would do enough to spoil but spoiling aint gonna get him the decision plus judges weren't very fond of him. He arguably beat Shavers in the rematch but whoever might have that footage aint tryna let the only other person interested(me) see it.
Holmes would outjab Young easily and win a 15 rounds unanimous decision, at least in 1980. it would be like Holmes-Berbick. In the 70s, I still pick Holmes, provide he was well trained unlike George Foreman, and fighting in a place where the heat was not a factor, by a complicated split decision.
Young would get shook more than once, but a pretty predictable and not particularly interesting UD 15 for Larry. Just curious and no judgements: did anyone else score the Young Norton fight for Norton?
Not a great matchup of styles and it's not going to be electric but i just can't see Jimmy beating prime Holmes. Holmes is more of a "winning" type fighter. He knows how to win and he really goes after it, Jimmy not as much. Part of being great i guess. When push comes to shove it will be Holmes dictating the fight and determining the outcome. Jimmy from around 76-77 would be awkward and at times competitive.....he was at the least competitive with everyone at his finest. Giving Jimmy his due he was unlike any other Heavyweight from his era - a real slickster cutie with loads of skill and quite fast. Holmes by competitive but comfortable decision. Holmes as he declined would had a fair bit of trouble with Young but so did Ali. It's fair to say you'd want to be at your sharpest fighting a guy like Jimmy.
Jimmy personified the term “spoiler”, didn’t he? His not so compelling style overall did tend to (at least for me early in the piece) cause me to oversight the very real skills he did have. Despite those skills, it came down to Jimmy’s primary intent - to not get hit and only hit enough to exceed the opponent’s scoring shots. Young said it himself, re his health and potential damage, that he didn’t want to get hit or hurt - very sane desire amongst us normal folk. However, all their skills besides. ATGs like Holmes fought to win, as you said, even if that entailed a fair degree of compulsory hurt along the way. The difference in intent (between Holmes and Young) is well illustrated when comparing their respective fights against Norton (I’ve not properly scored it but in general viewing - I felt that Norton beat Young). When Jimmy let his hands go, he was impressive and sometimes there was even a bit of steam on his shots (both Norton and Ali felt some of Jimmy’s punches). All too sporadic though, imo. And sticking his head outside the ropes vs Ali? - no, did not like that one bit, not least for it being reflective of Young’s often negative approach to “winning”.
You've expanded perfectly and made some fine points. When Jimmy let his hands go he was indeed impressive. He had excellent hand speed and put punches together beautifully. He just lacked that little chip that made the likes of Holmes and Ali what they were......even as boxing types. Perhaps Jimmy's attitude to boxing, which you highlight, is also what led to him being inconsistent at a couple of career points. Like the 80's boys he sometimes came in out of shape later career.