The more I look at Holmes' record the more it impresses me.

Holmes spent the first 3 rounds walking away from Tyson and grabbing him when he got close. He missed most of the few punches he threw. Landed a decent uppercut, but Tyson walked straight through it and bored into him.
Holmes tried to jab and move at the beginning of the 4th but that didn't last long. He stopped moving sometime before Tyson nailed him. It was a very good right hand from Tyson.
I don't think Holmes won any of the first 3 rounds, or even attempting to do much fighting UNTIL he was badly hurt with Mike swarming all over him.
Holmes went out on his shield, for sure.

 

Holmes fought Cooney, Spinks, Carl Williams, and Witherpsoon near the end of his championship reign. not sure if he had time to fit in all of the above matches. Page, if he had beaten Bey might have been given a title shot, but Bey defeated Page, so Holmes fought him instead.

Holmes was 48-0. Age beat him as much as Spinks did, and there is no doubt Holmes was shafted in the rematch vs. Spinks.

Holmes is in my top 4. I have often said, If Holmes fought a post Zaire Foreman, he beats him more impressively than Jimmy Young did, and has a real case for being #1 of all time. If not for the gift decision of Louis over Walcott, Holmes also owns the record for most consecutive title defenses.

 

Firstly, that's simply not true. If Louis had lost to Walcott he'd still have 23 consecutive defences.
Holmes had 20.

Secondly, have you film of the entire Louis-Walcott fight, full rounds ?
How did you score it ?

Lastly, Holmes had some disputed decisions too.

 

It's indeed impressive. Shame that there was nobody around in Larry's prime years who could have have pushed him to the limit.

 

I definitely agree that it should become more impressive, for the simple reason that it is impressive! Holmes was the best fighter in the world for a long time, and won a lot of title defenses. He cleaned out his division and whilst there were a couple of guys he could have fought, none were anything special or had any realistic claim over and above the guys Holmes did fight.

If you criticise Holmes reign then one can only imagine what you would think about the reign of the two Klitchskos, both of whom have failed to fight their top contenders for most of their time at the top when compared to Holmes.

IMO, once a fighter establishes himself as the champion, there is a bit of leeway to pick his challengers. If a challenger wants a title shot, i dont belive he has any right to complain unless he has beaten at least the best three contenders. Nearly all the greats did this.

 

Larry successfully defended his championship in eight consecutive calendar years, from Evangelista in 1978 to Carl Williams in 1985. I believe that was a record at the time. (Louis and Ali were prevented by WW II and Vietnam from having an opportunity to do this, Ali even if he had accepted military induction. Not fair, but it is what it is. It must be acknowledged that Benny Leonard could have held the longevity record if he'd continued at 135 as long as possible and been more active in defense of that title. We'd be looking at more than a dozen consecutive years for him, maybe over 15 years. Benny dethroned Welsh in 1917, and nobody was about to take it from him in 1923. The last win over Kansas was the most conclusive of their four fight series.)

 

Yeah forgot Pinlon Thomas

 

I remember Larry drinking a beer in his interview with Merchant after the Cooney fight. Seemed like a regular blue collar type guy to me. I wish the current Heavyweights were as active as Larry. Vitali Klitshcko has been close in his comeback seems like he is fighting every 3 or 4 months.

I also miss Boxing being live on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon on ABC. Used to love to listen to Larry and Howard Cosell go at it in the post fight interviews. :roflatsch

 

Impressive navigation of a co-title never unified or rematched a tough fight......Period

 

Bummy, don't go thinking I've switched to the darkside. I just love that I can bask in the fact that my father is the only fighter in the history of boxing to have ever knocked out Larry Holmes twice.Nobody has ever repeated that. Nick Wells twice knocked out one of the greatest boxing champions of our time. I don't want to hear the whole ,yea but that was when he was an amateur bull****. I know this, Don King and Larry Holmes sat down with Winky Groom and Nick Wells and tried to put together a fight for the two for them as pros . I think Nick was ranked 13th by the WBC . The fight never materialized. Why ? It could have been a non title exhibition for Holmes . It would have been a big money payday for both sides just because of the history behind them. Who knows Holmes could have avenged his losses to Wells . Or maybe he was the thinking in his mind of how embarrasing it would be to lose again. Twenty title defenses , good lord ,it simply blows my mind.

 

At 16-0 Holmes got a spot on the thrilla in manilla card and was very impresive beating rodney bobick. This was 1975 and should have been a spring board for him, he was ready to step up at that point but instead larry was treading water until 1978. nobody with a name wanted him.

Holmes only fought 3 times in all of 1974 because he was ali's sparring partner. when you think about it Holmes had 3 lost years where he could have fought for a title. Larry was beter than richard dunn, evangelista, leon spinks and as it turned out norton and shavers.

 

then thomas blew it against berbick who Holmes beat.... why wouldnt he blow it against holmes? larry KOd weaver years earlier.

 

Like i said short prime.. Pinklon was obviously not himself vs Berbick, everyone back then knew this... Before the Berbick fight THomas probably wouuld have been the slight favorite over the fading Holmes.. Pinklon was highly regarded back then.. And yes i knew Weaver was slightly faded but was coming off a big win over Carl Williams(hot at the time)... And was still regarded as a top contender, he proved it giving Pinkon some tough rounds before being kod.

 

Sub in the first Godoy vs Louis fight. I have seen most rounds, plus the highlights on all, and to be honest Godoy won more of the rounds.

I have not seen the full Louis vs. Walcott I fight, but I have seen a lot of footage of most of the rounds. Walcott is the better. He hits Louis with ease, and really makes him look bad. But the true tell on Louis vs. Walcott I was in the audio. After the fight ended, Louis body language was of a loser. When Louis was announced the winner, the Madison Square Garden crowd threw down a thunderous boo, on what was in fact a bad decision. Louis was " connected " though his mangers, and MSG's match maker.

I agree that Holmes vs. Williams was close, but I do think Holmes won a close but clear decision over Spoon 7-5, and was shafted in the re-match with Spinks. Holmes was not Ali. No way he was getting gift decisions.

 

Don't get me wrong Holmes was a great Champion,I just love to see the best fight the best to be called the best. I think Larry had great skills and he was an excellent amateur, one of the top in the USA, lets face it he made it to the finals, unfortunately he ran into Nick Wells who was top echelon of US Heavyweights. I did not know that was your Dad, you should be very proud...Nick Wells was a legend...Holmes had great professional backing and good training and he developed into a seasoned pro but he was also navigated pretty well....Great accomplishment for your father...I have seen many amateur fights and have seen many fighters in the amateurs who I said were going to be great and the amateurs mean a lot...Lets face it Ali,Lewis,Leonard,Frazier,Klitschko,Foreman,,etc all had great pedigree in the amateurs...Your father did not have the right pro Backing or training and this was a tragedy because he was a real puncher and proof is he KO'd Larry Holmes 2 times