Does Tyson deserve more credit for his Holmes fight?

Both things can be true.

Holmes had been slipping since the Witherspoon fight in 1983 and he was coming off 2 losses to Spinks.

So mentally coming off 2 losses and a what 2 year off ? Holmes is obviously not going to be at his best considering he was aged 38 aswell.

But the fact no one else stopped Holmes and he had credible performances against Holyfield, Mercer, McCall, in his 40s.

Then yes the manner in which Tyson destroyed Holmes deserves credit because no one else after that even come close to doing that to Holmes.

So people can acknowledge Holmes was past his best and coming off a lay off. But the manner in which Tyson defeated Holmes also deserves credit.

So I think it's a bit in-between as I said above.

 

Excellent take. Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

That was the irony. By fighting on at a relatively high level for quite a long time he gave credence to the argument that he wasn't that diminished when he lost to Tyson. That being said he was clearly diminished. Athletes aren't like wine. They don't get better with age.

 

Yeah.

Some miserable souls like to bring up the 21 month inactivity after the Spinks rematch, but nobody brings up how Holmes didn't fight for a whole 3 years after that. And when he did come back, he came back overweight and fought 5 actual nobodies before he beat Mercer.

I see no reason to believe the version of Holmes that Mercer fought was better than the one Tyson met. Tyson just made Holmes look ordinary because Tyson was a much better fighter than Mercer and had been working on how to specifically beat Holmes since he was a teenager with Cus.

 

Yes. It was an amazing performance. Mike Tyson was at his very best in 1988. All three of his fights that year - Holmes, Tubbs, Spinks - were amazing wins against guys who'd never been stopped before.

If a 38-year-old Mike Tyson would've stepped in the ring with all three of those guys in 1988, the fights are far more competitive and Tyson likely loses (maybe to all three).

He was just at his absolute best that year. He never was that good again. Too bad for Larry that Holmes fought him then.

 

Holmes had been slipping since the Witherspoon fight in 1983 and he was coming off 2 losses to Spinks.( lost once against Spinks imo )

 

Yes he does. He deserves quite a bit of credit despite Larry's non-stop excuse making. No one ever did Larry dirty like that, not even close... and dude fought till he was 50.

 

Guess I'm in the minority.

I only give Mickey Gerrard credit for his finishing ability but nothing really for the name of who Holmes was or how well he did when he finally shook off the ring rust.

Holmes is an outboxer whose timing, distance radar and movement relies on being sharp. Being overweight and out of the ring for so long does not make for a sharp fighter - especially once wear and tear of his career have already taken their toll.

As already mentioned, Tyson didn't beat the Holmes that fought Mercer. This isn't like a Duran beating Marcel - it's something else.

Tyson was superb but cos Tyson was superb - not because he fought Holmes.

 

I don't care what anyone says, but Holyfield fought a better version of Holmes than Tyson did. He was significantly older, but he was warmed up and sharp.

If Holmes had more time to warm up, I think he would have made it very close with Tyson.

 

Great post mate.

 

100%. If Larry had retired there, I don't think I could appreciate that but I can with the timeline that unfolded, certainly.

 

Tyson brought enormous pressure. Larry would have had to be perfect

 

Relative to his prime self, Holmes was that much less a fighter but as he was for the fight in absolute terms, he was still a noteworthy KO scalp.

FWIW, Larry did last longer than Mike’s other opponents during 1988 - 1988 being popularly viewed as Tyson’s absolute peak year.

For mine, with his prime skills, speed reflexes and mobility along with the safety nets of an excellent chin and great recuperative powers, best Larry beats best Mike, imo .

 

The fact that the offer to Holmes was contingent on him not fighting a tune-up to get him on short notice with as much rust on him as possible says all that needs to be said.