Brain Nielsen vs Larry Holmes

Never saw this fight, but I'll check it out when I get the chance. Thanks for the links Bill.

 

Nielson was a dud, makes a 49 year old look good. Watched the last round of Holmes v Bonecrusher afterwards and realised just how far Larry has slipped by the time he fought Nielson.

 

Holmes won this fight.

 

Ugly fight. But I think Holmes did enough to win. Holmes looked so lethargic -- like he was punching underwater, and his punches didn't have much snap. But Nielsen was just a lumbering guy without a lot of skill, so he made Holmes look halfway decent.

I always got the impression from watching Holmes that he never really trained all that hard in his comeback. I think Larry would have done more in his comeback if he trained more like an up-and-coming fighter instead of as a once-great champion simply dusting off the cobwebs and going through the motions.

 

Yes part of me thinks George and Larry insulted Boxing by using the "old timer" shtick to land fights they did not really deserve. But the other half of me is impressed they could still handle themselves against guys with good records. Against the best they were good enough to give anyone a hard time but not good enough to win. Nielsen had some good names on his record but he was not elite.

 

I had Holmes a close winner. Funny enough the American judge scored for Nielsen and the "Home Judge" Meronen scored for Holmes.

 

I agree on the view on Holmes not being in his best shape during the comeback. Surely, Holmes did´nt do much taining while preparing for the fight in Copenhagen. He showed up at Kjeld Kroghs Boxing Institute next to among others the Bredahl Brothers and Adam Holberg, the great grandson of former welterweight champion Waldemar Holberg. Holberg told me that on january 10, sparringspartners were lined up to spar with Holmes, but Holmes never did anything but desparately trying to find George Foremans telephonenumber as he realized January 10 was Foremans birthday. Holmes so much wanted a fight against Foreman and in the gymn he talked about the forecoming matchup, not versus Nielsen but against George. That day he left the gymn without lifting anything but his cellphone. No doubt, he took Nielsen very lightly and gave Nielsen the chances he never should´ve gotten.

 

Holmes was robbed in the Nielson fight, the spinks rematch and quite possibly the Oliver McCall fight ( though not to the extent of the first two mentioned. ) Had he rightfully gotten these decisions, his record would look significantly better and he'd even have a few more title wins.