Why did Larry Holmes do so well against Holyfield at 42?

What Lions Bummy ? Page lost decisively to the Berbick Holmes beat then he lost to the Bey Holmes beat .. Dokes was a druggie with a super short prime .. Thomas had three fights of any note before losing to Berbick and drifting to obscurity and Coetzee was absurdly overrated losing decisively to Tate, Weaver and Page .. meanwhile an old Holmes still beat young lions Berbick, Snipes, Cooney, Witherspoon, Smith, Bey and Williams .. maybe a prime Tyson beats a prime Holmes and maybe he doesn't but none of the others would have ..

 

Holmes knew a fight with Tyson had been on the shelf for almost 2 years. A Tyson-Holmes bout was almost signed in 1986 until HBO told Team Tyson to put the fight with Holmes on hold until after the HBO Unification Tournament. So Jacobs and Cayton reached a deal with Holmes and made sure he got first crack at the unified belts. Biggs got first shot for obvious reasons but Holmes had fought a 15 round exhibition to stay active and knew his time would come after Biggs.

Holmes was as ready as he'll ever be. To say a man like Holmes took the Tyson fight for only the money is exactly the opposite of what a proud former champion, a man who wanted to make history, would do. Why would Holmes go in there as a sacrificial lamb? He's always cared about his legacy and ATG ranking and placement among the greats.

Holmes has also stated that he never wanted to fight Tyson again. He took the George Foreman route during his comeback and figured the 90's heavies were easier than the 80's heavies, so he picked on undefeated Ray Mercer as a rated opponent to launch him into a title shot with Holyfield.

 

Holmes came back because he saw how easy it was for Foreman to gain notoriety off his name and legacy. He also stated that the 90's heavyweights weren't as good as the 80's bunch and piggybacked Foreman's success by handpicking stiffs and then a ranked opponent to secure a title try. It worked for Foreman a few times and worked for Holmes twice.

Also, Tyson went to prison. That's a solid reason why Holmes stuck around. He never wanted to face Tyson again. Not at his age.

 

I don't think there is any doubt that Weaver who was 18-9 at the time gained his confidence from the Holmes fight and was never granted a rematch and it was a unification fight. after Weaver beat Tate. Coetzee was limited and one dimensional but he had power in his right hand. Holmes gave up a title not to fight Page who was also inconsistent but Page had a good right hand. Bey had 14 fights and lost like 14 of his next 18 fights after losing to Holmes- Witherspoon had 15 fights and many thought he beat Holmes- Williams had 16 fight and many thought he beat Holmes- neither man got a rematch. Snipes was dropped 2X by Coetzee and most felt Coetzee was robbed vs Snipes but 22 fight Snipes got the shot and almost finished Holmes. I never thought much of Berbick (he was Ko'd in 1 by Bernardo Mercado and drew with 21-19-3 Leroy Caldwell ( who was KO'd many times) and got lucky fighting Tate after Weaver destroyed Tate.

Weaver fought Coetzee ,Coetzee fought Dokes, Dokes fought Coetzee, Dokes fought Weaver, Thomas fought Coetzee, Page fought everyone and won and lost etc. etc. etc.- non of them were consistent and many of them had serious drug issues sporadically but they fought each other- all losing to different styles

Holmes NEVER fought - rematched a disputed decision ( Norton, Williams, Witherspoon, or a tough match -Weaver- or unified

I like Holmes but have to call it what it was - his toughest matches were after he was Champ and lost to Michael Spinks and had to take what he could get - Tyson etc. - his experience took him far and he did well in his later years but in his his championship years he did not fight the best- just my opinion he grant- I know we had this conversation before over the last decade or so - I respect your opinion but we all have our own

 

Holmes style is actually something that would cause trouble for Mike... jab jab jab and alot of movement. However, Tyson was physically , mentally at his peak and Holmes was simply gets crowded and cornered by Mike relentless preasure. Holmes started to do well in 3rd or 4th round but the problem was non of his punches were able to keep Mike at bay.

To hurt Mike, you'd need to land multiple clean power punches for many rounds, otherwise he'd just keep coming and eventually gets you. Tucker did pretty well in early rounds but Mike just keep preasuring to the point where Tucker had no option other than run or clinch.

 

I think, had Larry at the time kept doing what he did in the third round he might have gone the distance (though lost unanimously). The big problem was the bizarre lack of both overall confidence and snap in his right hand. His feeling that he'd lose the fight counted against him big time, and showed plain on his face more than once during the fight. That said, the first two times he got knocked down he got up and fought with everything in him...he was still a champ (certainly moreso than the even-more-terrified-and-lame Spinks whom either got kayoed or frightened out early).

I don't think the Larry who lost to Mike was the same who beat Mercer and gave Holy one-hell-of-a-better-fight-than-anyone-expected. The man who fought Holy had confidence, and an obviously better right hand. I still think that Larry, too, would lose to Mike (whether prime or 90s), but not by knockout.

 

Holmes did well against Holyfield because Holmes was a more talented boxer. Same reason Holmes looked so good against Ray Mercer. The problem is that, at an older age, it's hard to keep it up for 12 rounds.

 

Very true. It still amazes me that Big George looked so good against Shannon Briggs (and won the fight imo). He went the whole 12 and looked quite fine imo.

 

Tyson didn't land a single body shot on Holmes in Round 3. Go and watch.

 

They are all good in their prime, not just tyson. Thats why its called their prime

 

You are wrong there. There were several landed and Larry was holding Mike on the inside to avoid more. Even 10 seconds left in the round I think Mike landed a good left hook to the body. That was Mike's goal the whole round was to land to the body and Larry was holding his arms the whole round to avoid it, and still Mike landed a few and Larry was hurting and slowing down.

 

Weaver was a career lazy fighter .. he had a terrific training camp to prepare for Holmes and fought his career best fight against Holmes w the flu and Larry beat him. Coetzee is ridiculously over rated. He KO'd Spinks and that was his one claim to fame other than stopping a coked out Dokes .. Page was a career under performer who came into the ring in flabby condition and disappointed time and again .. another overated fighter .. Interesting how you say Holmes gave Weaver confidence .. perhaps he destroyed the Bey he thrashed and who had previously beat Page .. that whole group lacked mental toughness and heart which is why none of them come close to beating even a post Cooney Holmes .. Larry was much tougher and had far more heart than any of them ..

 

I think after Ali accused Holmes of quitting vs Bobick in the amateurs -Holmes took offense but your right he had heart and condition but he took advantage of the split titles not to fight the best. Styles make fights- Who would have ever thought Snipes who was dropped 2X vs Coetzee would be able to put Holmes down - I see you make excuses for Holmes having the flu against Weaver but Weaver was an 19-8 underdog who had been KO'd many times before. Holmes fought Smith 14 -1 Ocasio 13 fights Leon Spinks 10-2-2 - Witherspoon- 15-fights Bey 14 fights- Marvis 10 fights......He skipped the best fighters of his era until he had fought quality in Mike Spinks a guy who never fought as a heavyweight and he lost....Tyson and he lost- I just think the right style would have possibly beaten him but Holmes skipped so many in his era

 

If you're referring to the low blow Tyson landed 10 seconds left in the 3rd, then yeah I guess you can say he landed a below the body shot.

 

He was working the body and he was hitting the body, whether it was pressure as he was holding or an occasional body punch. Larry was wilting and slowing down and Mike landed the right in round 4.. Rather easy fight for Mike