Prime Larry Holmes vs Prime Mike Tyson

I rate Larry highly, but this is just pure in-denial here. Holmes always had trouble with right hands. Checkout the Weaver, Witherspoon, Norton fights...he got tagged by right hands the entire fight. Not to mention the Shavers and Snipes fights. Also got tagged by Bonecrusher Smith, Scott Frank, etc..

There is a reason Holmes never fought Alphabet Soup Champions with good right hands(Page, Thomas, Coetzee).....

 

I like Larry by decision or possible late TKO. IMO at his best he would rise to this and his skillset, contrary to popular opinion actually gives Tyson just as much drama back. He had a bad habit of fighting down to the level of his opposition but it also goes in the reverse here. He would fight at his pinnacle, undoubtably. This is the HUGE fight vs a great he craved and never received.

 

Holmes decision win.

 

The reason being money, and he did sign to fight Coetzee. He was going to fight him in 1984 but the fight got scrapped a little before fight night (which was neither of the fighter's faults). He also fought Marvis Frazier instead of Greg Page because he was offered a lot more money to fight Frazier than he was Page.

 

:good i agree.
sorry but by tko, ko or ud i can see tyson winning, he had the wrong style for holmes, larry was a boxer-puncher he did accept the exchange of blows, it is because i can see foreman or tyson winning on holmes by ko. larry had a lion heart ,2 balls, great courage but holmes fought wars against past prime shavers, past prime norton, weaver,smith, spoon,snipes,berbick.. holmes was ko against shavers ko!! but shavers was very tired and he was not the finisher who tyson was. if you put tyson in the place of shavers you get holmes ko simple

 

His fights against Shavers, Smith, Snipes, and Berbick were hardly wars. They were very clear and decisive wins where Larry was clearly winning the vast majority of rounds, even shutting out Earnie Shavers in every round except for the round Earnie landed his bomb. Same with Holmes's fight against Snipes. Holmes won a very wide decision against Berbick with little trouble. Holmes himself was past prime for Smith and still beat him handily. He was also past prime for Spoon, which is really the only fight on the list of yours that was truly controversial. Holmes battled a very game Mike Weaver when he had a cold, and he knocked him out while he was still leading the score cards by about 2 rounds. Even against Norton, Larry was not 100%. He had a torn muscle in his left arm but still managed to beat Norton. Many people scored the fight wider in Holmes's favor than the judges did.

 

you can make excuses for the next 100 years, the facts are holmes never did nothing Sufficiently Convincing to think that he would beat mike tyson( who did beat clearly every boxer who did beat). the facts are styles make fights and tyson had everything to give the hell to holmes.holmes had good chin but he did show that he might be knocked out by a great finisher and the style of tyson was bad for him, and the facts are holmes was ko against shavers and tyson was better than shavers in everything, he had more stamina, he was much better finisher, he had comparable hitting power but with better combinations, more strength, much better chin.
tyson fought much better against stylists (tillis,tucker,green) than holmes fought against punchers( weaver,shavers,norton)
the holmes fans have just his legacy(really wars against average boxers,past prime norton and past prime shavers), they have absolutely no fact to say that holmes would win.

 

tyson on points or late stoppage holmes never faced anyone with the speed and viciousness of prime tyson post rooney though id pick holmes .

 

I have to disagree. Yes, Tyson was the type of great finisher that a Snipes or Shavers was not. However, Larry would have played it more tactical against Mike Tyson. He would not get lackadaisical and let his guard down to be hammered in such fashion.

Also, it was in fact age that got Larry nailed by Tyson.

Holmes was getting tired from the constant pressure starting at the end of the 3rd round where he went to the ropes and Tyson made him pay for it with 2 hard punches to the head. Holmes knew what was about to happen to him in the ensuing round and knew he couldn't go much further, so before the inevitable brutal end he decided to give the crowd a glimpse of the prime Larry Holmes. He opened the next round jabbing while circling Tyson. But, he slowed to mere mortal speed once his old-guy legs reminded him of his age. He was standing stock-still when Tyson landed that malignant shot to the temple. The prior 3 rounds Tyson couldn't land much in the way of a solid shot because of Larry's movement. Two of the 3 judges gave Larry the 3rd round. If a 38 year old rusty Holmes could hold his own and make it to the 1/3 way mark of their actual fight then a prime Holmes could certainly box his way to victory against Tyson or even get a late round stoppage.

 

Holmes winning with a late TKO.

 

i still say tyson catches up to larry late in the fight...mike tyson isnt old earnie shavers...mike weaver....old ken norton or even gerry cooney....TYSON WOULD HAVE CAUGHT UP TO HIM..

 

Tyson KO. Holmes dropping his left after the jab would always get him in trouble. Prime Mike's body work would take away Larry's legs. Post Rooney Tyson may lose a decision by a split. IMO Holmes could never ko/tko Mike, not enough power.

 

The 39 year old version of Holmes managed to make it to the 4th round against a prime Tyson. I think a 29 year old Holmes beats him. He weathers the early onslaught and then wears him down in the later rounds.

 

I've been picking Holmes in this match-up since Tyson stopped Holmes in 1988. Today is no different... I'm going with Holmes by decision. Both men are all-time greats and anything could happen, but I think more times than not Holmes would win in a prime vs. prime situation.

55 for Holmes 53 for Tyson.. it really is a pick 'em fight IMO

 

Tyson would always **** this ****** Holmes

That f*cker fought in a more diluted and frail era than Tyson

And winning a decision over Tyson was near impossible in his prime ... you had to knock that mofo out ... something Holmes could never do