Larry Holmes decisions Cassius Clay.

I think Shavers would have a pretty good chance against pre-Liston Floyd, who was more agressive. Floyd would have to box carefully and smart in this one, if he goes aggressor early he takes a very large risk.

 

yeah shavers is going to have a punchers chance against anyone including Floyd but as the fight goes on I would pick Floyd to stop him as the fight goes on
Shavers best shot would be an early knockout but still, more often then not, Floyd would get off the floor to win the fight. And Floyd was never floored in the late rounds
I still see Floyd avoiding most of Shaver's bombs and taking a late stoppage

 

I agree if Clay had one hand tied in back of him

 

Footspeed ?
Stamina ?
Reflexes ?
Handspeed ?

All of these attributes were significantly better in the 60s version of Ali than in the 70s.... he was clearly better from 64-67 than at any point in his career, its clear as day to me at least.

 

1964 Clay that beat Liston beats any version of Holmes, the speed of hand & foot would be the deciding factor IMO, Clay was a better athlete too, faster reflexes, hit at least as hard & was the heavier man.

Clay W15 Holmes UD 9-6

 

And to Ali himself, and to Dundee, and to D'Amato, and to Futch, and to Patterson, and to Chuvalo, etc, etc

 

holmes would of kayoed ali in their sparring sessions larry took it easy on ali and still was throwing ali around the ring and landing combos with ease:think

 

As I've said previously,I take all these 'Ali gets beaten up in sparring sessions' stories with a pinch of salt. Holmes had barely been a pro for two years when he ceased to be Muhammad's sparring partner.

 

Henry Cooper was a world beater compared to Kevin Isaac who was still good enough to drop Holmes on his arse.

Probably Renaldo Snipes as well.

 

Ali beat Holmes up when they first started sparring,then Holmes was competitive and finally he could match it with Ali and then he ceased being a sparring partner.

Holmes' competitiveness can partly be attributed to Ali's attitude towards sparring partners.Ali was never one to beat up on a less experienced fighter in training,instead he used the sparring to build ring fitness and work on his game.

This has been documented at length in the thousands of books on Ali so this **** about Holmes throwing Ali around in sparring sounds like a typical bull**** sparring story which for some unknown reason people like to put a lot of stock in.

Personally I find the tooth fairy more believable than most ****ing sparring fables.