Was Lewis as great a ring general as Ali?

Well, kids get stuck on things.......... I was 11 yrs old when my pops and I sat in front of the tube to watch Ken Norton defend his "handed" WBC title against Larry Holmes in the summer of '78..... Nobody was giving Holmes much of a real chance at the time..... But by round 10, my old man and myself were saying Holmes is winning..... It was a great fight to witness on national TV free of charge....... ABC televisied it..... I still remembr seeing Chevy Chase, Sly Stallone and Roberto Duran cheering at ringside..... A great fight that was well earned by Larry Holmes........ Larry Holmes would remain champ all through my Jr. High and High school days / daze.....:hey:bbb

MR.BILL:deal

 

no way. Ali was much great all around, but Lennox made up for it in size advantage and the right hand. But p4p Lennox cannot touch Ali.

 

Larry Holmes was an obvious natural born boxer / fighter........ He was blessed with all the tools needed...... He was brought up poor, so he didn't get any help or aid as a late teen...... However, he had the balls to hang in their with Frazier and Ali as a sparring partner in the early to mid 1970s........ Larry Holmes was a fast learner in the gym......... Aside from Ali, Holy & Walcott, Larry Holmes had the best hand and foot speed for a 210 pound heavyweight that I have seen thus far.......
bbb

MR.BILL

 

No, because Lewis never did anything approaching the tactical genius that dazzled champion Foreman or the whuppin' on champion Liston.

But I place Lennox near the top in ring generalship. He emerged with the best record of his time in part by knowing when to slug and when to box. He romped in rematches and kept his head although old and slow to stop Vitali.

He would never fall for the Rope-a-Dope.

He had a lot of tools and he knew how and when to use them, on offense and defense.

I can't see him losing a fight, tactically, to any other great.

 

Yeah, Holmes was a brilliant fighter... I only have Ali & Louis ahead of him myself.

 

Let's see NO WAY. Ali woulda outboxed Bruno EASY! Lewis would be great if he had Ali's footwork. Ask him, he will tell you that himself. Ali was Lewis idol so he started at a good place.

 

Larry Holmes cannot possibly be rated # 2 heavyweight of all time, when you actually study in depth on his era. Not only do you find out gaping holes in his resume, you find out he never unified the title once, never gave rematches after controversial decisions, picked on green fighters to get to 49-0, threw his belt in the trash to avoid mandatory WBC # 1, and missed out on some huge megafights with top Alpha champions. Head to Head is a different story....but he had his flaws there too although he does deserve to be up there. Holmes had alot of heart.


No way can he be rated over Joe Louis

 

In the 80s, Unification ment nothing....... The WBA title boys were chumps........ Sure, decent fighters-----when in tip top shape, but still chumpions nonetheless.... Only Larry Holmes & Mike Tyson were the true elite............

As for Larry Holmes' title reign, he fought everybody who was worth a damn....... So he missed "Dokes, Page & Thomas." No biggie..... Look back at their title reign as chumps and tell me what was so special..... Larry Holmes fought some tough / great fights as champion..... "Holmes-Cooney" and "Holmes-Spoon" are two great heavyweight title fights of the 1980s....

Also, we all know Holmes was butt reamed by two of the three judges against Spinks in 1986........ That was robbery........

NOW! Very few former great champs can go 12 rds with Holy in 1991 / '92..... "Holmes & Foreman" were those dudes who could.. And both were age 42 for cryin' out loud.......

Larry Holmes was great........thumbsup

MR.BILL:bbb

 

Joe Louis was a great fighter and well tuned under Jack Blackburn's eyes...... But, in truth, Louis KO'd 18 or 19 bums and stiffs outta them 25 total defenses......... "Farr, Godoy, Conn, Simon & Walcott" were Joe's best challengers....... Walcott being the elite man there........:-((

MR.BILL

 

duane bobbick kicked holmes ass in the amateurs and he woulda did it in the pros also.

 

Perhaps in '73 to '75.... Maybe.?.? By 1977, NO WAY, Jose........:-bbb

MR.BILL

 

same goes for wells