From a 1-10 scale what you rate holmes in the Tyson fight?

he was a 6. he wasnt in his usual shape, he was a little old, and his whole timing and sharpness was off.

 

A 4 at best, he was old and had not trained at all in 2 years, save a few weeks. He showed how easily he would have beaten Tyson in round 2 or 3 but at nearly 40, over weight and untrained he just could not keep it up.

 

well the reason he had problems hitting him was because Holmes was always going to be a ring savvy and smart costumer for tyson to beat.

 

Holmes prepared the best he could at that age. He knew an eventual showdown with Tyson was looming since 1986. Yes, he was fully prepared.

 

I'm guessing it's a combination of Tyson-haters and/or the uneducated boxing fan. I would never call myself an expert on boxing, but I'm a big enough fan and try to keep a fair assessment of fights I watch.

It would be interesting to see how master trainers like Eddie Futch perceived the actual fight.

 

Holmes was in better shape than most people believe or he himself believes. He was already somewhat old. He didnt get better as he got older like so many claim. The length of his layoff is often exaggerated by the ignoramus' on this forum who fail to acknowledge he fought a 15 round exhibition shortly before going into training and before Tyson faced Tyrell Biggs, so he had a lot of time to prepare and get his timing back.

Regardless of all that he was still older and not as good as he once was, and was facing a pitbull in Tyson. No version of Holmes would have beaten "that" Mike Tyson anyway .

 

:roll:

 

Compared to his prime? 4 or 5.

He looked old in the Tyson fight.

 

Compared to his prime Holmes he was about a 5 at best.

 

If he was a 10 at his absolute best, I would give him a 7 or 8. He never had an amazing physique or looked aesthetically appealing in his entire career, he had poor genetics so he never looked like a Tyson, Holyfield, Norton, etc...

I think had they met in Larrys prime, Tyson still would have won, perhaps by knockout but it would be much later in the fight.

Here are a few facts that are important in gauging what kind of condition he was in at the time he fought Tyson, as fighters age differently...

Holmes would go on to win 21 of his next 24 fights up until 2002, 14 years after Tyson's KO, including a win over an undefeated Ray Mercer and he would get 3 title shots all of which he would lose by decision. Tyson is the only man to ever knock out Holmes, and he did it fairly quickly in a very lopsided beat down.

Holmes had a disdain for Tyson and he wanted to win that fight. I think he trained hard and went in with a winning attitude. He was an experienced fighter who wasn't afraid and as I said... He wanted that win, so he wasn't just looking for a payday. As far as I know, Holmes had managed his money well and has never fought just for a payday. I could be wrong on that though, I am going off a documentary I watched years ago that featured Holmes and his wife and how they live a small town life after boxing. They appeared to be doing very well and living modestly.