1984 pinklon Thomas v 1984 Larry Holmes ?

Every chance. Holmes had a tendency to win close fights around that time whether he actually won them or not though & that might be the case again here.

 

Very, very close fight.

 

Holmes was indeed fading by this point and Thomas should have been able to edge him out. "Should have" being the operative words - Pinklon tended to blow hot and cold so I would n't write off Larry's chances totally.

 

Thomas may well take him at this point, Holmes was there for the taking, he was older, but also more importantly was coming in like 15-20lbs heavier than the Norton fight for example.

 

The version of Thomas that beat Witherspoon convincingly beats the 1984 version of Holmes by decision.

Holmes was ready to be taken at that point.

 

Thomas in a competitive UD.

 

Past it Holmes out jabs him and lands more rt hands. Past it Holmes was still better and did everything better.

 

The Thomasthat heat Witherspoon was absolute the best version of Thomas I ever saw . He is the only fighter that beat a focused, prime Witherspoon in a close but clear victory. Holmes was still fighting 15 round bouts while Thomas was fighting 12 and started in a was never his strongest suite but it would have been an extremely competitive fight and I don't know how it plays out.

 

Couple things. Larry Holmes spent nearly the whole of 1984 trying to put together a unification fight with Gerrie Coetzee. When the money fell through, he defended against Bonecrusher Smith, and stopped him in 12. (The Williams fight wasn't until mid 1985.)

Also, what few have mentioned is Larry Holmes was the IBF champ, and IBF title fights were still 15 rounds. (The Holmes-Coetzee fight would've been scheduled for 15.)

Larry Holmes tended to turn it on in the final five rounds (11-15) and close strong. He took the deciding round and the belt from Norton in the 15th round. Floored Mike Weaver in the 11th and stopped him in the 12th. He stopped Cooney in 13. Dominated Berbick in the final rounds. Pummeled Tex Cobb so badly in the final rounds Howard Cosell quit calling boxing. Got off the floor in the 7th against BOTH Shavers and Snipes and stopped BOTH in the 11th.

And, after a good start by Bonecrusher in 84, Larry turned it on and stopped Smith in 12. (And would stop David Bey in the 10th round in the fight after that.)

Pinklon Thomas never went 15 rounds in his life. In 1984, he'd only gone 12 once. He didn't tend to close strong. I think the latest he ever stopped anyone was the 8th round.

There were many instances in boxing history where one guy was leading after 10 or 12 rounds, but rounds 13-15 were another matter altogether. It was a psychological hurdle, if nothing else, for many.

Those later rounds tended to be when Thomas faded and Holmes scored his biggest wins.

I don't think Thomas would've won. I don't even know if he makes it to the 15th. I could see Thomas crumbling, kinda like Cooney did, in the final frames.

 

Larry showed what I never saw from Thomas which was moxie, grit, the ability to come from behind ... fighting Bonecrusher, Holmes was four years older than Smith , fighting a very big , strong guy who just destroyed Bruno, and was badly cut early to the degree that a stopage loss was not out of the question ... he also got tagged a few big shots, hung in there and ended up stopping Smith late ... even the older Holmes was a tough guy.

 

At that stage It’s a tossup. Larry would have to come in as motivated and as in best shape as he could be

 

Holmes likely would be a bit too busy for Thomas. Would out work him just a bit to get the decision.

 

Thomas UD.

 

Number of 15-rounders Larry Holmes fought in his career? 19
Number of 15-rounders Pinklon Thomas fought in his career? ZERO

Number of 15-rounders Larry Holmes won in his career? 17
Number of 15-rounders Pinklon Thomas won in his career? ZERO

Number of 12-rounders Larry Holmes fought in his career? 11
Number of 12-rounders Pinklon Thomas fought in his career? 6

Number of 12-rounders Larry Holmes won in his career? 7
Number of 12-rounders Pinklon Thomas won in his career? 3


Larry Holmes' total record over 12- and 15-round fights - 30 fights (24 wins, 6 losses)
Pinlon Thomas' total record over 12- and 15-round fights - 6 fights (3 wins, 3 losses)

Pinklon isn't winning a decision over 15. He couldn't even win most of his 12 round fights.