Would you back Larry Holmes to beat all four of Lennox, Bowe, and the Klits?

But that cuts both ways - the other guys have never even faced anyone as good as Holmes, let alone beaten such a fighter.

Also, they are all fairly similar in style - big, slow, immobile, troubled by good jabbers, weak quitters who gave up when the going got tough. Personally that looks like the IDEAL style for Holmes to school for 15 rounds or stop earlier. Can you imagine what their faces would look like after Holmes' jab pecked at them for 45 minutes? IMO Lennox is a very close fight but Larry has more heart, better jab and chin, and the others favour Holmes significantly.

 

I think you might wanna learn some 9th grade level geometry.

 

When I see some of the posts here I must they Holmes went from underrated to overrated.

 

I wouldnt call them slow. They are all decently fast maybe Vitali is the slowest but Wlad is fast. Lewis is fast, Bowe can be very fast when he wants to be.
Since when did every fight get decided by the jab , if Lewis or Bowe took a figh to Larry he is going to get hurt.

 

id give prime bowe a better chance against prime holmes than the klits or lewis .

 

I think prime Vitali and Prime Lennox would give Larry the most trouble. Bowe would be kept at the end of that ram rod jab trying to get inside, Wlad's would be up against a man that can out jab him which is Wlad's main and often only weapon for LARGE portions of fights. Prime Lewis and Vitali can put the hurt on you from range. I watched the video of Lewis beating Briggs this morning and it reminded me of how Lewis could fight when you upset him and brought the macho bit out of him... He would vary his punches from body to head, from hooks, straights, uppercuts and double jabs with relentless pressure and he could do it at a distance that was outside of Holmes's reach.... With Lewis it all depends what version turns up. Safety firts Lewis could lose a close points decision, destructive version of Lewis could wear Holmes down and get a late stoppage or points win. Just my view

 

That's the way I see it too, Don. Especially considering their size. They're some of the fastest men of that size that I can name, in their primes.

 

Leave Mother Teresa out of this, facts remain Holmes avoided good right hand punchers, Dokes,Coetzee,Thomas,Tate,Page and gave up a title not to fight him...and would not rematch Weaver or Witherspoon and believe me none of these guys were great or close

2 right hand punchers almost put his lights out, Shavers and Snipes and they were not finishers, Lyle,Cobb,Mercado,Stallings came back from Shavers right hands to stop him Stalling had him down for an 9 count. Snipes never Ko'd a top contender

I remember Holmes getting blasted by Nick Wells 2 times at the peak of his amateur career and getting walloped by Bobick in box-offs

Even though Holmes improved greatly and was the best of his era I am not so certain he would ever be able to handle a relentless prime right hand puncher or ever beat the likes of Mike Tyson....The Cooney fight does not prove that to me.

 

I do not insult peoples opinion because they differ but I can tell you are a Punk because if you were standing next to me you would not call me a ****, those words would not come out of your mouth

 

Not all at the same time, no.

 

Holmes could beat all of them and he could also lose to Lewis and the Bowe that beat Holyfield in their first fight.

 

I don't know who specifically you are referring to: Wlad or Lewis?

Wlad definetly wasn't in his prime, but a case could be made for Lewis.

You make it out that Larry just walked over all of his (weak) competition.

Norton was a close fight when he won the belt as was Witherspoon and Williams.

7 of the 20 or ~35% of the title defences he made were against guys that had 20 or less fights. That's cherrypicking if you ask me.

But the point I'm trying to make is that he sometimes struggled against weak competition while the big 3 dominate/d the field.

That all goes out the window fight night, though. I can't see Larry outboxing them because he didn't show he was that dominant against his opposition while the big 3 have shown they were much dominant in outboxing their foes.

I also can't see Larry knocking any of them out because he doesn't have that kind of power. If a light hw can out box him 2X (1 arguable) then what would a more talented, stronger fighter do?

Don't give me this bs of 36 either; Vitali and Lennox fought on after 36 and made successful defences against better opp. Wlad will do the same it looks like as well.

 

Let's get the facts straight. First of all , Dokes had no right hand and Thomas' was non-existent .. Coetzee only had a telegraphed right hand which is why his career is without one defining win unless you count a rank amateur Spinks or a drugged out Dokes. Page was never viewed as a big puncher ( who did he ever stop but Coetzee?) and again I ask you what defining win do you use to gage John Tate (Coetzee again?) ? Is it that he beat Bobick and Bobick beat Holmes ? I seriously hope not ...

The Holmes right hand puncher thing is as blow out of proportion as the b.s. about Frazier's chin.

Holmes defeated Weaver, Norton, Shavers and Witherspoon, all of whom where terrific right hand punchers. In Larry's highly active title reign where he fought twenty times (not five like "other" legends) he got sloppy once or twice ... Both times he got caught with shots that a Lennox Lewis would not have even gotten up from but did. He went on to dominate every second of every remaining round and won the fights. In Larry's championship prime (Norton to Cooney) I honestly don't think he lost more than a dozen rounds in 11 title defenses. The man did not lose a fight until he was 36 years old. There is no question he was a great champion. Please show me a specific round and fight where a prime, healthy Holmes was consistantly tagged with a right hand.

All the guys mentioned (Vitali/Wlad/Bowe/Lewis) are serious guys ... none would be easy ... I just happen to think without ripping the other guys that Larry's size and speed would be the difference. However I do agree that a prime Tyson would be a very even match up that could go either way but none of the fighters mentioned match a prime Tyson's speed and power .. none of them ...

 

Very good post. I couldn't have said it better.:good