I voted Holmes on points, but I really see this fight being a toss up. Holmes would have to utilize his skills to the fullest to beat a peak Frazier. Over 15 rounds, I see him succeeding roughly 5 out of 10 fights. In 12 rounds it could be more.
Similar in the early stages to Frazier-Ali I - Frazier, 205, comes out pretty quick looking like he's going straight to work but like against Ali he dosen't actually throw any punches at all for about the first minute and a half allowing Larry, 209, to quickly establish his strong jab - the power he has on th jab might cause Frazier some problems - Ali threw mainly bolo punches in the early going against Frazier and couldn't miss - but Larry doesn't throw anything other then endless jabs and occassional following right hands - Larry like Ali would find Joe easy to tye up and like Ali over the first three rounds Larry would land everything he throws - Joe finds it really difficult to get past Larry's jab. Joe tended to wait and take shots while he planted his feet - then he'd dig his heals in and slug away - but he'd do nothing in between - one thing I noticed from watching Fraziers fights is that Joe never ever punched on the way in he'd wait until he got right in close. It was usually round about the 4th round that Joe would find his range which is about the round opponents usually started to find theirs against Larry - by the 6th I don't think Larry would even have tryed to hurt Frazier yet - Holmes never seemed to really take the offensive until mid-to-late - Frazier would get in some of his vicious body shots now and then but overall Larry would dominate behind the jab but the few times I see Frazier getting some really hurtful shots I think Larry would quickly go into his Ali-impersonation and start his dancing around at high speed - as long as he isn't exhausted Larry was really good at re-establishing control of the pace the second an opponent had any kind of success - the problem I see for Frazier is that against Holmes he wouldn't be getting his shots off and when he did it would just be to late in the round - he would continue to plough forward into Holmes and would have better chances to give Holmes a working over in the second half of the fight but just as much I think we'd see Frazier happily falling into clinches to rest on Holmes too often - Holmes as a rule always moved to his own left around the ring and when he did move the other way didn't look anywhere near as smooth so think he'd probably get wobbled by the left hook when trying to go to his right. 90% of Larry's punches were jabs (and the other 10% occasional following right hands) - he never ever throws hooks at all - ever. He fight in a pretty one dimensional way in that respect, never does anything differently and always fights at the same pace - a bit boring to watch as just jab, jab, jab, dull & unexciting but virtually impossible to beat for someone who doesn't actually throw enough punches like Frazier - Larry might start to look a bit tired in the last couple of rounds but over the course of 15 rounds Larry would have put too many rounds in the bank for Frazier to be able to claw back - Larry wins it fairly clearly.
Frazier is a beast against Holmes types. He would get tagged, but he is damn durable and would get to Holmes who has slower feet than Ali.
Holmes would definitely win the early rounds. Frazier would start coming on strong throught the middle of the fight,and he'd probably win most of the later rounds. It would go to a close decision. Frazier could take it,providing he wins enough seesions after the first third of the fight.
Many saying Holmes had no drama's with left hooks, but when the hell did Holmes face an ATG left hook like Fraziers?!?!?!! :roll: I say toss a coin. Personally take Holmes via split with BOTH down.
Cooney had a great left hook. Holyfield's hook wasn't bad either. Maybe not on the level of Frazier, but Cooney's was at least as hard.
14-14, surprise, surprise. Exactly the way it should be. Anyone predicting a relatively easy win either way or completely confident one way or another needs to find a new hobby.
Cooney had fukk all on Frazier Bill. Don't mistake raw power for greatness. The only facet Cooney's hook matched Frazier's in was power. Frazier's was infinitely better utilized and 100% proven vs top shelf opponents.
At times I go through phases of under-rating Holmes but then I watch one of his fights again and think actually. Watched Holmes-Norton again today - first time properly watched it in years - Holmes actually dominated that one looking back and he did it with literally one punch - the jab I scored it pretty clearly for Holmes 8 rounds to 4 and 3 even (and more than one of the rounds I gave to Norton I was being kind/giving the benefit of the doubt to him - Norton was nothing like the one who faced Ali, nothing like it but Larry just pumped that jab and really made it hard for people to get into the fight - especially when they didn't throw many punches in the first place - he commanded things, was very disciplined and concentrated his eyes right on the opponent in front of him - great boxer - but dull dull dull, wouldn't get involved - and unfortunately I think Joe needed somebody who would get involved and take the odd risk - Holmes wouldn't give you the ball in that respect.
I too am watching Holmes - Norton currently and Holmes has dictated the fight brilliantly with his jab over the first eight. However Kenny is applying SLOW pressure, he is letting himself get picked off. When he leaps in with his left or just bumrushes larry then he has success but he is constantly wary of Holmes jab. I think Frazier is going to close him down much better in that respect, Holmes did best when he fought that fighting retrear. Making you pay for each step forward with that snapping jab or one two, Frazier will make him run and wear him down slowly I feel.
I have been thinking about this. I'm surprised it's giving me so much trouble. I guess I would go with Larry by decision...very close, hard fought decision...maybe a split decision. I didn't vote yet, because tomorrow I might change my mind on this one. Tough.