Was Larry Holmes Ever Truly Appreciated During His Reign?

No, he was always “the guy who wasn’t Ali.” Which is of course unfair as he was really great, but the public’s fascination with Ali hadn’t had a chance to fade before he arrived on the scene. I think he’s rated appropriately now though, as the dust has been settled long enough.

 

Yeah it was hard to follow Ali. Holmes would get the credit as a great fighter after his rein was over.

 

He was not the most charismatic face around; so a lot of fans never warmed to him.

In that sense, Larry was the opposite of champions like Ali or Foreman II who oozed charisma. He didnt even had something like Tyson's thug boy negative charisma.

Just or unjust; for many Larry was only kind of a minor stopgas champion.

Just imagine how differently Larry's legacy would be seen today with Foreman II's charisma.

 

No one would’ve wanted to have to follow Ali - and certainly not have to beat up on his remains as Holmes had to do.

Bad enough but then have your career followed by that of Mike Tyson and his own meteoric rise, no less?

The stars certainly weren’t aligned for Holmes in so far as career timing went - he was the literal meat in the sandwich.

And then there was the ingredient of Holmes “endearing” personality thrown in for some extra spice. Lol.

I don’t think Larry was so bad - he simply shot from the hip (quite wide hips too, btw).

Personally, I prefer a straight shooter than a seemingly likeable but obvious bull **** artist.

I agree that the dust has probably settled enough for most informed pundits to rate Larry fairly and squarely.

Like Ali, I give Holmes a lot of credit and possibly the benefit of the doubt in some instances based on his well demonstrated and highly positive intangibles.

 

I thought Larry was an ideal champion, as far as I can tell not many guys actually cared about the fighters he “avoided” the way people do today. Holmes was a family, community and respect oriented fella his comments were always with a wink - I wish I could find the interview, they ask about his “rude” comments he said to the interviewer something to the effect of “You should believe you can beat me, I back Larry Holmes because you’re supposed to.” He was also forced to pay money towards old timers like Moore, Walcott and others as a way of “getting places” or for favours etc by the “machine” so maybe he didn’t like being leeched off and had a chip on his shoulder about it lol.

 

No not at all and I remember because I started following boxing in 1982 after he fought Cooney. I thought he was a gifted fighter, no one I knew thought he was a good champion or even a great fighter.
Now I was young at the time around age 11 when i first got interested in boxing and I remember talking with a kid who was around 16-17 at the time. He said Holmes was garbage and he didn't beat anyone of any quality. I said what about Ken Norton. He replied oh you mean that muscular cocaine addict. So, for quite a few years after I thought Norton was a cocaine user.

 

Your anecdote highlights well Larry’s curse: being endlessly contrasted to the 70s greats.

I can relate to the older kid, since most probably he was able to catch at least some of the 70s action, and compared to that Larry’s era seems drab and devoid of drama.

And justly or unjustly, Larry’s career is linked to some embarrassing episodes. After all, which ones are his marquee victories?: Punishing Ali’s corpse? Barely beating a downhill Norton? Defeating a dilapidated Leon Neon?

Of course, nothing of that was Larry’s fault, that is the way boxing business goes. But it is undeniable some aspects of his career, like the brutal beating of Ali, got ingrained and left a sour taste in many fans and pundits.

 

The sour cherry on Larry's cake was during the late 80s - early 90s when he undertook his comeback.
Larry was looking forward to shock and amaze the boxing world proving he was the old timer who still had it going on.

But Larry got bytchslapped by Tyson. And then lost to Holy, McCall, etc.

Worse at all, that was precisely the timeframe when Foreman returned with his "cuddly bear eating burgers" gig.
Everybody went nuts and jumped into Foreman's comeback wagon and Larry became "Larry who?.
He didn't even got the consolation prize of a well paid last bout versus Foreman, because the deal fell off.

Larry was the Rodney Dangerfield of the HW division ... he just couldnt get respect.

 

I think some people were happy when he beat Cooney and he gained some warranted respect. But I never remember him being especially popular or well liked.

 

Underated,imo,I think he suffered from the same thing Ezzard Charles did after Louis,following a legend. Holmes is easily in my top7all time.

 

Towards the end of his reign, writers were catching on and he started to get some good praise.