If Moorer at his best was champion in the 80’s who beats him? If Holmes at his best is champion in the 90’s who beats him?
Moorer could fall at the first hurdle against Norton that he may not even begin Holmes's title reign. Shavers could obviously bomb him out considering Moorer had a shaky chin at Heavyweight and was dropped twice by fringe contender Cooper. Witherspoon could beat him. Cooney would be highly dangerous. Berbick could possibly outhustle him. As for Holmes it depends when he fights certain fighters. Holmes could beat the greener version of Lewis but a prime Lewis with his KO right hand and better technical skills would be a major problem. A 42 year old Holmes was very competitive with a prime Holyfield I see no reason why a younger Holmes wouldn't outpoint Holyfield. I think Bowe has alot of issues vs an outboxer with an ATG jab. Bowe struggled against fighters who fought him at range Golota, Holyfield 2, Tubbs. Tyson not in his prime anymore despite me thinking a prime Tyson beats Holmes I don't think the 90s version would. If Holmes in his prime say take the 1978-1982 version then I see him beating all the 90s Heavyweights barring Lewis which is a 50/50 match up.
Holmes beats everyone except Lewis in the 90s IMO. Moorer loses to Ali, Foreman, Frazier, probably Jimmy Young and also would be the underdog IMO against Norton, but that fight is unpredictable due to Moorer being able to punch in combination with power, which is often was Norton was susceptible to.
Moorer would have a betfter chance of beating Spinks and Tyson but Holmes had 20 something defenses and it's hard to expect a replication of that from anyone. Holyfields win over Moorer was the best fight of his career. Prime Holmes should beat Holyfield but that Holyfield would have beaten Lennox.
Put Moorer in there with the Cooney Holmes fought and Gerry would be the new HW champion I think. Lol But Moorer did have nasty power so… very well could go the other way. I do think the Moorer that fought George would stop Holmes in that era though. Before the 7th or 8th round. Moorer is arguably the 2nd hardest hitting southpaw in history. It’s between him and Zhang imo for 2nd place.
Moorer probably beats Norton in 78, but I don't think he passes through Shavers or even Weaver before that. Holmes beats everyone in the 90's.
The difference between a great fighter and a good fighter. Drop a great fighter into another timescale and they likely still win many more than they lose. Drop a good one in and they have the same tangible and intangible frailties they have in their own time, and we can make a case for them losing to some or many fighters. For me, NOBODY in the 90s beats a prime Holmes. Moorer might be lucky to pick the strap up in the first place in Holmes era...
Too many big hitters during Holmes reign for Moorer to last long. Prime Larry might run the table for a while if he wins the crown in 1994. Tyson and Holyfield were past it. Old George ain’t beating prime Holmes. Bowe was diminished. Lewis would become a threat a bit later
We're comparing an atg to a "pretty good" heavyweight so the real question is can Larry replicate his 80s run in the 90s. I think he was actually better suited to take the 90's group of contenders as he showed well against Holy and beat Mercer in his 40s. IMo he likely beats Mike, Bowe and goes to war with Holy in a close fight. Lewis is probably 50/50 depending on his form. I could see him possibly losing to a slick guy like Byrd.
I don't think Larty in his prime would ever lose to Byrd. I think he'd control him with his jab and right cross much the way Wlad did.
Norton Moorer would be a 50/50. I might even favour Norton to stop him late and end his title run before it begins. Shavers could also conceivably stop him but Moorer would be equally capable of beating him. I'd pick Witherspoon and maybe Cooney to stop him. Mike Weaver could pull an upset over him. So while he *might* be able to become champion, he's certainly not matching the long reign of Holmes. Holmes outpoints that Holyfield like Moorer did, but in more impressive fashion. He beats Foreman wide. Beats Holyfield in a more competitive rematch. Probably beats Tyson in a good fight. Beats Tua. Beats a declined Bowe. Him Vs Lewis is a 50/50 but I tend to favour Holmes in that match up. Still, Lewis would probably be able to pick up at least one win in a trilogy. If Holmes comes out on top in that trilogy, then a declined Holmes in the early 2000s is dethroned by either a moving up RJJ not unlike what actually happened with Spinks, or Vitali/Wlad.