Do you agree with Mike Casey that Tyson's stoppage of a past it Larry Holmes was not an aberration

I agree. It’s a bad style match up for Holmes. By sitting on the sidelines he got to see Tyson up close, and he actually came into the fight with a great game plan to fight conservatively for first 3 rounds and try to ebb Mike’s early dynamic power. Then open up on him. I feel a prime Larry would of engaged more early and traded and being susceptible to right hands Mike would of gotten him anyway.

 

I don't know if he beats any version of Holmes, but that overhand right that dropped Holmes and set him up for the other two knockdowns is a shot Larry was always susceptible to and others had dropped him with.

So basically the difference would be could Holmes have survived if the same right hand from Tyson connected when Larry was younger?

Maybe. Maybe not.

 

Larry got dropped more when he was younger than he did when he was older. (Nick Wells, Kevin Isaac, Renaldo Snipes, Earnie Shavers)

 

I love Mike, but just as Larry never beat an opponent the caliber of Tyson, Tyson never beat an opponent (anywhere near) the caliber of Larry Holmes.

I know the Mike that fought Douglas wasn't the 1988 Mike. But Larry Holmes in his prime was at least 3 times the fighter Douglas was. Mike might have dropped Holmes back in the day, but that was always when Larry ended up scraping himself off the canvas and stopping the other guy.

Tyson gets stopped in 12.

 

That article is both sentimental and heavily inclined toward much earlier eras of fighters.

 

Mike Tyson stopped Larry Holmes, and Mike Tyson fought a number of guys who either beat Larry Holmes (Michael Spinks) or gave Holmes absolute fits (like Trevor Berbick and Carl Williams - who appeared to beat Holmes) and stopped them very quickly.

I like Larry Holmes. I think Larry in his prime would give Tyson all sorts of problems with his jab. But if Tyson cracks a young Holmes with the same right hand, I believe Tyson still finishes Holmes like he did in their actual fight.

Tyson was a better finisher than guys like Snipes and Kevin Isaac. And Larry was always a sucker for that right hand.

 

Berbick gave Holmes fits? Have you ever even watched their fight? If it wasn’t a shut out, it was damn close to it.