what would have happened? i think that holmes gets ko or tko,prime liston was better finisher than these guys, harder puncher than all them except shavers. liston had longer reach, great jab,good stamina, he was much stronger, he had skill.he had a good chin. and holmes fought to life or death against spoon or norton. i think that a prime liston would have been too much for holmes if you put liston in the place of norton,spoon,weaver or shavers. what do you think?
great question! the easy answer is that holmes' best weapon was his jab, same as sonny. i give the edge to sonny here though: his jab was longer and harder (that sounds pretty ****ing dirty). i see liston's jab being rammed down holmes throat for 3 rounds, essentially neutralizing holmes' best weapon. after that, he tries to use his mobility to move around the jab, which gives him some success but sonny starts walking his down late. holmes is dropped hard in the 10th off a left hook and is stopped in the 12th
I still think that Holmes would be able to outpoint Liston but it's hard to tell. It would be easier if the fight with Ali happened when Liston was in his prime. Nobody actually knows how good Liston was in the late 50s. We know he was good but he didn't fight anybody of Holmes class. Holmes had a very solid chin. Liston would hurt him, maybe even knock him down but I believe Holmes would survive and win it on points.
liston did not face a boxer like holmes true, but holmes fought to life or death against past prime norton and spoon,he was hurt by weaver and shavers.liston was much more dominant, i think that liston would finish him. i did think always that a good finisher would ko prime holmes, like liston,tyson, louis, or foreman. (george foreman said that he did doubt that ali would have won a prime liston) i disagree but still i respect the opinion of foreman.
It looks like if Larry Holmes could adjust to avoiding the heavy left jab from Sonny, he could make a long fight of it. Bert Whitehurst said it best, if you move just a little bit against Sonny, he has to re-set. He was a 'slow-thinking fighter'.
I'd expect Liston to win. Holmes made Witherspoon look like a world beater. A year later, Witherspoon looked like an amateur against Pinklon Thomas. Maybe that was down to Witherspoon, still Holmes should have done better.
holmes uses his extraordinary jab and his side to side movement to confuse and frustrate liston then start peppering him with combinations until the ref steps in and puts a halt:think
i just can't see it that easy with a prime liston. holmes would not be stopping him; UD maybe but no way does he stop sonny
MR. UN, Larry would be a little 'fresh' in there. 'When guys are a little fresh,,,,,,,, they tend to get sassy'
Holmes has one of the greatest jabs of all time. However so does Liston. Holmes will need a right capable of stopping Liston, which I don't think he has. Liston KO