I don't care what a boxer says or how he might be disliked, the fight should be judged fairly by what happens in the ring
First off, Holmes is very lucky he even got a rematch. Just who did Larry give rematches to when he had tough close bouts? And a guy like Butch Lewis was certainly capable and had connections enough to go after other fighters. We saw him take soft touches for Spinks > the 2nd Holmes fight, he could have done this earlier. I was somewhat surprised they did sign a contract for a Holmes rematch. But there were other paths for them to take. And Holmes could have been frozen out or been forced to fight Tyson for a belt.
Larry was, for the vast majority of the moments that he spoke, outraged and indignant. It's part of why I like him.
It's true, Larry should have given at least Witherspoon a rematch...Williams too. I think Norton would have been stopped had that happened again for them, though...same with Snipes and Weaver (Holmes would have taken the latter two much more seriously and dispatched them each within nine imo).
Just idly pondering... Imagine Spinks five years older, fighting Larry in 83, around the time the latter demoed iron chin Cobb. Spinks would have been done in five.
For sure. The only reason Spinks and his people took the fight was Holmes' fading resources. He was a statue by 1985. Still, he did it. big ups to Michael, who once again showed what a heady, cerebral fighter he was that night.
Iirc Larry was more often the aggressor in the first fight. I probably need to watch it again though, I usually prefer watching the 2nd for what I would think are obvious reasons. But yeah, I thought Michael was sneeky and weird enough to flummox Larry to win. Believe me I did NOT like that Michael won and I thought as a fighter he was unbelievably lame and boring, especially when he was such a good light-heavy. But he did it... Christ I hate saying that.
Holmes vs Spinks II Round 1: 10-9 Holmes Round 2: 10-9 Holmes * Round 3: 10-9 Holmes Round 4: 10-9 Holmes Round 5: 10-9 Spinks Round 6: 10-9 Spinks Round 7: 10-9 Holmes Round 8: 10-9 Spinks Round 9: 10-9 Holmes Round 10: 10-9 Spinks Round 11: 10-9 Holmes Round 12: 10-10 Even Round 13: 10-9 Spinks Round 14: 10-9 Holmes ** Round 15: 10-9 Spinks Total: 144-142 Holmes Let's look at the two rounds I noted. Round 2 which I scored 10-9 for Holmes, in the hands of someone more liberal with points could have called that 10-8 for Larry. He did stun Spinks towards the end of the round, but mostly because Spinks did absolutely nothing that round. It's up to the individual scorer. Round 14 was another unusual one. Spinks started well and ended well, but Larry did stun him and followed up briefly before Spinks ended the round better. But how do you score? Spinks did most of the heavy lifting that round, but Holmes did rattle him. Very tight, but I gave it to Holmes. I could have called it even as well, but it was an intense moment for Larry. I see Harold (God rest him) also gave the round to Larry. Good fight. Felt Larry deserved this, but Spinks should be lauded for fighting his heart out.
@scartissue That is an excellent post on a subject (Larry) I love. I agree with so much of what you wrote, but concurrently feel like you are just too forgiving to Michael. Your score is what I gave the first fight. For the second, I didn't even give Spinks a round until 6, and docked him two points both for not really fighting and basically getting kind of beat up in round 2. I also knocked off two points for the round he came so close to getting knocked down in (and I'm positive you know which one I mean). 145-138
Spinks hired a nutritionist and put on pounds the right way. An older champion boxer needs to be careful picking a much younger and faster opponent who's also undefeated, exspecially if he doesn't have big-time power. Spinks won the first fight, but Holmes won the 2nd fight by a bigger margin, only to be robbed by the judges.
The one thing I noticed in that fight. Holmes was not much bigger. If you see them next to each other, Spinks was almost his height and filled out well.
