Larry Holmes Versus Vitali Klitschko

Two aggressive glass cannons just swinging for the fences. We'll never see the final bell.

 

90% of the time he threw the same kinds of shots over and over. I mean look at the Briggs fight. He had a wheezing, exhausted, hopeless opponent standing right in front of him and couldn't knock him out. This was because his technique, while effective in terms of scoring points and causing damage, lacked proper snap and leverage. He would often arm punch and threw with the exact same trajectory and timing which allowed Briggs to brace himself even when he couldn't block or dodge.

Vitali was not some sort of genius problem solver or finisher in the ring. He essentially just battered and clubbed his opponents over and over till he got the decision or stopped them. As for being a couple steps ahead of his opponents, he fought mostly dumb slow sluggers and plodders for most of his career (Peter, Arreola, Briggs, Chisora, etc). The two smartest guys he fought (Lewis and Byrd) he lost to so I'm not sure if you can claim such a thing.

 

I would suggest, with this^, you'd be talking yourself into an unwise bet. And, not surprisingly since you focus almost exclusively on the weaknesses and past-prime struggles of only one of the boxers in question - Holmes.

Coupling this with a critique of Holmes' résumé doesn't help, either. It has little to no bearing on a head-to-head match-up and, if the opposite were true, then Holmes would be hands down the favorite here, given Vitali's woeful ledger.

One can only assume that you believe Vitali has no weaknesses and his right hand is the magic bullet of all magic bullets - an 'ATG Killer' (despite it failing against a shagged out version of Lewis). It's not a lot to place one's faith in, really - let alone a strong bet on.

Holmes was more than heart, a phenomenal jab and good legs. He had tactical versatility, supported by a varied armory, delivered behind that phenomenal jab. He also had a disciplined defense, very much incorporated into his varied footwork, control of distance and angles, upper-body movement, parrying and blocking, which he could seamlessly blend/convert into offensive counters.

If the right hand of Vitali is the only thing in his favor here, I'd be confident that Holmes could diminish the extent of that advantage, if not take it away altogether.

Vitali does not have anything like the tactical versatility or the varied armory or an elite jab. His defense is almost entirely dependent on him having the offensive upper hand, which he gains through his sheer physical presence, but I just cannot envision him intimidating and gaining such a position against Holmes.

Vitali's alternative defensive maneuvers involve either a lean-back or straight-line retreat, which a good offensive opponent can capitalize on to score with some eye-catching moments.

With a disciplined fight, Holmes can time and avoid/suppress Vitali's best weapon, while picking his moments to score over the long haul. It's not a walk in the park, but it's what Holmes was made for and what a prime Holmes excelled at.

 

Well, Let's look at Holmes.

He won the title on a SD from Ken Norton in 1978, Norton gave Holmes hell but that same Norton would win only 2 of his next 5 fights getting KO'd in 1st 2X and getting dropped 2x by Scott Ledoux in a draw.

He went on to defend against Alfredo Evangelista, 13 fight Ossie Ocasio, and from there most of the guys he fought had 14 fights like James Smith and David Bey, Leon Spinks had a 10-2-2 record, Weaver was a 19-8 trial horse (who almost upset him) and he would not rematch to unify, Weaver gained much confidence in the Holmes fight hurting Larry several times.

Shavers was a puncher but was already KO'd by Quarry and Lyle and Ron Stander and was KO'd in 2 of his next 3 fights after losing to Holmes.

Snipes fought Holmes after a robbery SD vs Gerrie Coetzee getting dropped 2X and Snipes dropped Holmes hard with a right hand and almost upset him.

Holmes went on to fight 15 fight Witherspoon and 16 fight Truth Williams and many felt Holmes lost both
fights.

Holmes best fight and defense may have been over Gerry Cooney but Cooney never went past 8 rds. and had 2 1st rd. KOs in the 2 years leading up to Holmes. Also Cooney was a left hooker and did not possess the right hand that was Holmes kryptonite.

Then Holmes went on to Lose 2 fights to Mike Spinks, then Drastically KO'd by Mike Tyson in 4 rds. The right hands were the Kryptonite of those 3 fights.
So, while I consider Holmes a top 10 Great, who had heart and skill, I do not forget he gave up a title not to fight Greg Page and he never fought Gerrie Coetzee 2 right hand punchers, also never fought Dokes, Thomas co-Champs.

So, I don't see anyone on Holmes list of opponents in Vitali's league and IMO I see Vitali as a dangerous opponent for Holmes.

Vitali 9th - to 12th rd. KO over Larry Holmes

 

OK. If you want to argue a case for Vitali being better than anyone Holmes beat, then that's a separate conversation. It really doesn't help advance an argument for a speculative head-to-head matchup. Neither does reframing your critique of Holmes' résumé.

Describing "right hands" as Holmes' "Kryptonite", is fairly ridiculous when you consider the fights you're referring to as examples of the same. Holmes was well past prime against Spinks. The first loss had more to do with Holmes loss of speed, fluidity of movement and timing than the right hand of Spinks by itself. The second loss, while Holmes was still looking old and slow, is generally considered a bad decision and a peaking Mike Tyson, in '88, was just about every heavyweight's Kryptonite at the time.

Do you not perhaps see that citing a Holmes comeback fight, at aged 38, against one of most ferocious KO artists of all time could be seen as somewhat risible?

Moreover, Vitali was not a power hitter in the league of Shavers or Tyson or Cooney so, predicting that Vitali stops Holmes, who was only ever stopped once in his entire 75-fight career, when way past his best, by a peak Mike Tyson, is beyond reason.

Either way, you're still drawing a conclusion based on what you perceive to be Holmes' failings, without examining any shortfalls on the part of Vitali.

You praise Holmes for his heart, but conveniently forget to mention Vitali showing his lack of the same against Byrd - giving up his title in the process.

Prime Vitali's one shot at an elite - and a knackered, under-trained, ready-for-retirement elite, at that - saw him come up short. How do you think a prime Lewis would do against Vitali? Then ask yourself again, how you think a prime Holmes would do?

If you still want to make it about resume then Vitali beat absolutely no one of note and Norton is easily on a par with (if not higher than) Vitali in terms of level of performance. Cooney was better than anyone Vitali ever beat, as were Witherspoon and Mercer - and these names are just the obvious, low-hanging fruit.

It's fairly clear that Holmes operated and had greater success at the higher-level. But, if you think placing a strong bet on Vitali, based on "right hands" that made no material impact on Holmes' prime career would be a good idea, then so be it.

 

Erine Shavers could not stop Larry Holmes and he chased him from one turnbuckle to the other. Yet Vitali who is not even a pressure fighter and produced stoppages over plodders due to accumulation is going to knock Larry out cold?
Larry would have to stand there and let Vitali hit him over and over for Vitali to have any chance of scoring a stoppage.
Your assessment is based on pure fantasy. Pitting the worst Holmes against a Vitali that didn't exist.
A gambling man bets with his head and that is why you would lose all your money betting large on Vitali

 

Well let's look at Vitali. Who is his best win? Corrie Sanders? That is not exactly great. And let's not forget, he lost against the 2 best fighters he faced (an overweight faded Lewis and Chris Byrd who took the fight on short notice.

 

Sanders was a dangerous opponent, fast handed southpaw with excellent power, in condition he was a dangerous man. I had Vitali ahead vs Lennox and he fought well with a terrible gash, was well ahead vs Byrd until the injury. I think he would have had a great chance to beat LL in the rematch and he wanted that fight badly, Lennox did not.

Vitali KO'd Herbie Hide pretty easily, Orlin Norris but Vitali gained confidence after the Lewis fight and KO'd highly rated Kirk Johnson in 2 who had KO'd Oleg Maskaev and Lou Saverese

after 4 yrs. off he KO'd Danny Williams was fresh off a KO over Mike Tyson and Vitali bounced him off the canvas.
Sam Peter, Juan Carlos Gomez, Chris Areola, Kevin Johnson, Briggs, Solis, Adamek, Charr, Chisora - pretty fair match to the Holmes opponents.

bottom line is IMO Vitali was better all-around than any of Holmes opposition other than Tyson and had a good chance to beat Holmes

 

Earnie Shavers could not stop Bob Stalling or light heavyweight Vincente Rondon, and both were KO'd numerous times.

Styles make fights. Holmes got dropped by Renaldo Snipes, Kevin Issac and did get hit by right hands, Vitali could do it!

 

Vitali is a great fighter for sure, and I think a fight would be terrific against..let's say 1979 Holmes.

I honestly think it would be like what a prime Lewis wouid have done to Vitali had that ever happened. In other words, Lewis would have had a more dominating performance, which is overall what I think would happen if Larry took his place. I think Holmes would take some nasty shots, but he'd use his high ring IQ to foil most of Vitali's punches. After a couple of shaky times, Holmes doubles up on his movement and starts working in a sweat-dashing overhand right. Vitali gets a very ugly cut after one of those rights, by the 8th round he's getting hit too much in general. The ref stops the fight in 11, just as much for the cut as for the number of rights Vitali is taking.

 

Vitali couldn't stop a weeks notice Chris Byrd , Timmo Hoffman , Kingpin Johnson , asthma suffering Briggs or Derrick Chisora.

He scored standing stoppages over Sanders and Peter who were literally walking face first into his punches.

He was accumulation arm puncher. Brought his jab up from and waist and pulled it back to his waist. Fought with his arms down. Stiff as a pole up top. No head movement. . This is why Lewis landed at such a high connect percentage despite throwing in spurts. He couldn't miss him.
Vitali was wide open for the right hand over the top. . Larry Holmes would have a field day with him. Target practice. A non-competitive pasting.

 

It is pathetic how you try to hype Vitali's resume who by all accounts was not great. Corrie Sanders was at that point an old overweight and semi retired golfplayer

 

Sanders had beaten Wlad in his previous fight, his biggest win ever. It actually gave his career a boost. He wasn't playing pro golf, he'd simply been mulling over it before whooping Wlad.

 

Klitchko ko2 holmes and i rate Holmes