Prime 4 Prime:Ali VS Holmes

I dont think Ali KOs Holmes but I think Ali of 1966/67 wins a clear UD over any version of Larry personally.

 

I heard Larry say on the `thrilla in manila` doc that he feels Ali is overrated in his boxing skills...... maybe true, maybe not, my bet says that he still had enough skills to get past Larry at their bests.

 

yeh but if you listen to larry holmes

larry holmes is the greatest boxer ever
ali is rubbish

 

I think Prime Holmes is a P4P top 3 ATG, but unfortunately for Larry, Prime Ali is #1

Ali UD

 

I watched that last night on E4. Incredible documentary, and probably the greatest Heavyweight fight of all time.

Holmes is full of ****, he occasionally talks about Muhammad as the greatest HW of all time, and then he slags him off and claims he is the best. I have no time for Holmes.

 

Holmes hasn't got much good to say about Lewis either. What I find strange about his lack of respect for Lewis as a fighter is that Lewis also struggled for recognition all the way through his career like Holmes did himself.

Holmes is still bitter and the Spinks fights IMO. He'll never get over them. Fighters like Holmes and Hagler, who both fought for peanuts on the way up, never accepted being beaten after lengthy reigns.

 

Of course Holmes said that about Ali. Did you seriously expect him to give a fellow ATG heavyweight recognition and credit?

I'd say Ali from the Cleveland Williams fight in '69 would beat Holmes. Not going to go into detail about it. What I will say is Holmes had perhaps the greatest HW jab of all-time. Ali didn't really keep up the head movement much, and if he didn't, perhaps Holmes could pick him off with the jab enough to win a decision. Unlikely though.

 

Ali would beat Holmes peak for peak via decision.

 

i think ali would dance his way to victory using his fast hands

 

I concur with those who say that a peak Ali, perhaps during the late 1960's wins a decision over Holmes. The corpse who met Larry in 1980, can hardly be used as a gauge to determine anything, and I can't imagine Holmes having the speed to out jab or outmove Muhammad in his hayday. I do however feel, that Ali would have to be at his best. Its possible that the 1971 fight of the century Ali may have outpointed Holmes, but I think we may be cutting it close there. If I were to pick the best rendition of the greatest, I would go with Ali circa 1966.

 

Dont mean to be a smart ass but Ali-Williams was on nov 14th 1966.

Ali had his last fight vs Folley on march 67 after being stripped by the government & never fought again until october 1970 vs Quarry.

3 yrs & 7 months of inactivity.... Ali was the greatest, he beats Holmes at their peaks but Larry was a great fighter aswell.

:good

 

Ali via close decision. They both had the styles to beat eachother, but Ali could dance a little better, and had the more flashy combos. I don't think it would be out of reason to think out of 3, a prime Holmes might edge out a decision against prime Ali.

 

I would have to go with ali. Holmes may have been more fundamentally correct in certain areas but ali was more resourcefull and creative. And while holmes may have the better jab, ali had the faster hands and feet. His right lead was faster than most fighters jab and his foes often couldn't anticipate it. Also, holmes was venerable to right hands.Ali would outspeed holmes with rapid combinations and frequently land the right over larrys jab, even though it might give him problems early. Ali could adapt to any situation because of his natural ring smarts, physical attributes, and almost supernatural abilities.

When i saw the holmes-ali "fight" I saw something very revealing in the 7th round. Ali actually began to fustrate holmes a bit by jabbing and moving, even though he was slow and nowhere as proficient as he was in his prime. If you look at footage of that round you could see holmes getting mad. I could only imagine what a prime ali would do, one who had everything working.

It would be interesting for the first 5 or 6 rounds untill ali adjusted to him, and then he would gradually take over, winning most of the remaining rounds. Ali by unanimous decision.