Larry Holmes (1978-1985) vs. Wladimir Klitschko (2006-2014) the ultimate poll

Holding is part of boxing skill otherwise we should invalidate most of Ali's, Ward's, Hopkins's, Floyd's big wins as well as pretty much any old school fighter

 

He got exposed by a HW version of Jeff Lacy. James Toney had less trouble when he boxed peters ears off and got robbed in the first fight

 

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/06/30/article-2010040-0CCE213000000578-863_1024x615_large.jpg

Thats not holding or boxing skill ^ thats straight up cowardly cheating

 

And got dominated in the second so maybe stop picking and choosing fights and look at the big picture

 

Watch any fight in the 1920s-1930s they clinch about as much so does Ward, Ali Hopkins its part of the game if you don't like it then watch something else. This is like MMA fans complaining about wrestlers lol

 

Peter was shot to bits then.

 

So you're saying wlad had the skill level of primitive clinch boxers of the 1920's ?? LOL

 

& no one finds you to know what you’re talking about you buffoon. I could have shredded a dozen posts of yours since the Holmes thread. You don’t know what you’re talking about. & your posts are as fair game here as anyone’s to remark on.

 

Before being frozen out, Witherspoon had already achieved more than Povetkin did in his entire career.

Up to and including 1986 and from twenty-eight bouts, Witherspoon had had nine fights against Ring-Rated opposition, going 6-3-0. He was 28/29 years old by the time he'd completed that run.

If Vitali managed to beat Witherspoon, it would have been his best win, for sure. But I'm not convinced Vitali beats prime Witherspoon.

Same goes for Wlad - Witherpsoon would be his best win, as well. I'm even less convinced that Wlad beats a prime Witherspoon, though.

 

Calling 6-3, “a run” is generous IMO.

 

I'm calling his twenty-eight bouts the run, within which he faced more and beat more rated opponents than Povetkin did in forty fights.

 

Ah, I see. Well, I have a healthy respect for Witherspoon. He should have been more, but he was very inexperienced taking on Holmes. That says more to me about the champion than the challenger however, as this sort of thing happened more than once to Holmes.

Whether Witherspoon was better than Povetkin is something reasonable minds can disagree on IMO. Ditto, the Poll question, but I have Klitschko a little out in front on title reigns, Holmes ahead based on overall career strength.

I’d have to expect Wlad beats Witherspoon personally, though. Maybe Witherspoon beats big brother Vitali, who was a dud.

 

I'd suggest that a common factor of significance in evaluating both title reign and career strength is the quality of opposition. For this reason, I have Holmes ahead on both counts.

Some of this is measurable (by the numbers) and some of it is subjective (there's plenty of film of many of the fighters in question) and some of it is both (e.g., Witherspoon has better numbers and looks better on film than Povetkin).

 

I don’t have any strong resistance to your position. Klitschko & Holmes were both long-reigning champions over putrid divisions. Either one could be ranked above the other. I like Klitschko’s more sure-footed dominance & regard his opposition marginally superior.

As I say though Holmes outranks him looking at their careers wholesale. Those losses pre-title really hurt Klitschko’s standing.

 

Ditto Povetkin after Chambers. Witherspoon didn't get a shot bc he lost to Mercer and Donald.

No proof that Witherspoon was better than Sanders or various other guys who Vitali beat. They didn't fight under King in the 80s.