Larry Holmes vs Riddick Bowe

I thought Holmes looked much better in his title loss against Oliver McCall than Foreman did in his title win against Michael Moorer. Holmes was competitive throughout the McCall fight, and he was actually ahead on the scorecards by the midway point in that fight. Foreman got picked apart and beaten up for 7/8ths of the fight against Moorer before landing that two punch combination that felled Michael.......So, yeah, Foreman won the title and Holmes didn't. But Holmes showed more skill and ability in his losing effort than did Foreman in his victory.

 

The thing that I liked about Holmes fighting Mercer was that Mercer was streaking at the time and was undefeated. Sure, Mercer was a step below guys like Lewis and Bowe and probably even Ruddock in the skills departments, but he was strong, very durable, and had a lot of heart. Even though in my opinion Mercer was the most beatable of the young up-and-coming fighters at the time, Holmes fought him and schooled him....I don't think Foreman ever would have risked his comeback(pre-title shot) by taking on a young, up-and-coming, and streaking contender the way Holmes did.

Rodriguez was blasted out by Holyfield and was never much to begin with.

 

So do I! As said, I wasnt that impressed with Foreman taking a schalacking before landing that slow motion right hand. Moorer became so complacent because the fight was so easy, he got caught.

 

Holmes wasn't taking any risks either and in fact, had it much easier than Foreman did. Holmes defeated essentially 5 tomato cans before being offered a $ 1million dollar pay day at Mercer and a guarnateed shot at the title should he win. To sweaten the deal, he was matched with a guy who played right into his hands stylistically. Check out the Damiani fight and see how onesidedly Mercer was being outboxed, then tell me if you think Holmes' decision to fight him may have been swayed by that performance. Foreman had to face 20 something opponents before even getting a fight a fringe contender in Rodriguez. Call them journeyman. Call them tomatoes, trial hoarses, whatever.........The fact still remains that he had to fight a lot more and a lot longer than Holmes did before getting the big bucks, and the big shots. More food for thought to consider is that Foreman paved the way for the comeback trend, without which, I don't think Holmes would have suceded so early in his return effort.

In conclusion, I think its painfully obvious that Foreman:

1. Beat a lot more fighters in hsi comeback than Holmes

2. Beat Better comp on the comeback trail both in regards to first tier and second tier opposition.

3. Arguably looked more impressive in some of his matches.

 

Complacent or not, Foreman won that fight legitimately. It wasn't the result of a dive, DQ, or even poor judging. He fought a 35-0 lineal champ in the prime of his career and KNOCKED HIM THE **** OUT......End of story.........

God, I wish people would stop making excuses......

 

He won the fight legitimately, but not impressively. It wasnt even close to being a close fight. And I would strongly disagree that Foreman fought better competition, he most certainly did not. Moorer was not a 35-0 heavyweight, he was like a 5-0 heavyweight. He was a lightheavy most of his career. It turned out knocking Moorer the f*ck out at heavy was not all that impressive and difficult for the good fighters, Botha almost had him.:hi:

 

45 years of age and coming off of a 15 month layoff to take the guy's best and come from behind to leave him with about 40 stitches in his mouth. Pretty damn impressive to me.

I listed a comparison of Foreman's comp vs Holmes' in their comeback career. You tell me if you think the dug up remains of Jesse Ferguson and James smith were better than Lou Savarese, Alex Stewart, or Adilson Rodriguez.

Correction. He was 13-0 as a heavyweight with wins over Evander Holyfield, Bert Cooper and Alex Stewart. Also, that "lighheavyweight" was 6'2", 222 Lbs when Foreman fought him.

The next time anyone would KO Moorer would be 3 full years later, and after regaining the heavyweight title, not to mention to an all time great in Holyfield. Moorer's third KO loss would come a full 5 years AFTER THAT to David Tua when being on the comeback trail and totally past it. So there you have it. Three KO losses in 57 fights, two of them to big punchers, two of them were all time greats, and one of them coming well past his prime..

 

Yeah he went into hibernation for a few years before taking on a slew of feather fisted panzies, including yes, the very same Axel shultz that got robbed against Foreman. Moorer was a great light heavy, probably one of the best ever, and a good fighter at heavyweight, not a great fighter, and thats why he won every round against Foreman before getting caught. I dont understand how you can think thats special? He barely beat Holy, many thought he lost, Cooper and Stewart were garbage. I think it was pretty obvious Moorer didnt have a heavyweight chin, thats why he was successful in the beginning, because he was so defensive minded, a total opposite of the LH version of Moorer.
Holmes faced far better competition (not wins only). That is far more impressive than picking guys that on paper everyone, including George figured would stand in front of him and let him tee off on them. Not so impressive in my book. Holmes fought much more competitively in his losses than Foreman did against better guys.

 

Foreman fought as many opponents as he did before earning $1 million to fight Cooney due to his own reluctance to fight worhty opponents. Heck, I don't think Cooney was a worthy opponent either, but he still enabled George to "earn" $1 mill for fighting him. Foreman could have took on a top ten contender or some live, up-and-coming prospect in sometime in 1988 if he had wanted to; he didn't because he chose not to. Tyrell Biggss was offered to Foreman in late 1988 I believe it was - a fight that was to take place in China - and the winner of that fight was to get a shot at Tyson. Foreman didn't appear too keen on fighting the tall, quick, very mobile Biggs. Foreman seemed to favor quantity over quality - fight a lot of inferior guys and make the claim that a lot of ring activity against low-level guys trumps one big fight(victory) over a top ten contender. And don't forget that Holmes wasn't gone for 10+ years from boxing, so he didn't need to follow the Foreman blueprint for making a comeback.

The Mercer fight was a risk for Holmes because he was old and so far past his prime. Holmes was had one fight(brutal KO loss) between April of 1986 and early 1991 when he made his comeback. So, he was very, very rusty when he came back. Damiani was young, active, and a good boxer, so the fact that he was outboxing the more crude but dangerous Mercer was no shock. Holmes was a good decade older than Damiani and was much less active. The Mercer fight was a big test for Holmes, a much bigger test than Rodriguez or Cooney were for George.

 

Moorer was shaken up by Alex Stewart and nearly Ko'd by Bert Cooper......He was hardly the big, durable powerhouse that some make him out to be at heavyweight.

 

It was bad enough that Foreman talked, smiled, and cheeseburgered his way into his first title shot against HOlyfield to earn $12.5 mill. But then he loses to Tommy Morrison, remains inactive for over a year, then gets rewarded with a title shot.

 

Holmes ended the Holyfield fight looking the same as he did when the first bell sounded. George finished the Holyfield fight looking like he got stung in the head by a swarm of bees!

 

Damiani was actually a pretty good fighter, agreed. But, its really only hindsite that tells us this. He was selected as an easy opponent for Mercer and was relatively unproven against world comp. Damiani's 1987 meeting with Tyrell Biggs gave most experts an idea of what he was made of. Biggs outboxed him handely only only to lose the match via cut caused by an accidental headbutt. Technically Biggs should have won that match and done so after a year of inactivity, a bad loss, change in managment, and drug problems. Belive me, Damiani was NOT thought of by most as a legit world beater. So when Holmes saw tapes of Damiani handely outboxing him for 9 rounds before getting his nose broke with a wild left uppercut, he figured " hey, money in the bank. "

 

What the hell are you talking about? Holmes ****ing threw up at the end of the 12th round. In addition, Foreman and Holyfield actually fought when they faced each other. Holmes and Holyfield was one of the most uneventful fights and waste of spectator money in the history of the sport. Given the choice, I'd rather see Valuev fight Carnera than to pay to see that fight again.

 

What the hell did Holmes do to get in the ring with Mccall for his second comeback shot? Suck Don's dick? And here's the other thing to consider, despite getting another crack, and against a journeyman who got lucky, HE LOST!!!!