A true ATG facing a very good European fighter. The ATG stops him in around 11 rounds. Holmes had everything he needed to beat this fella.
Remember Cooney getting hit with a right hand from Holmes and spiraling in like a crippled plane in the fifth round? That's exactly what ole Wlad would do. Then if he didn't get stopped that round, Holmes would punish him for a few more before stopping him.
It's just...Larry REALLY didn't like bigger guys than him who have a good jab...but at the same time his overhand rights landed SO much easier against taller opponents. Wlad would have been a far bloodier mess than he was against Lewis (the last mentioned fight I actually saw Wlad winning and wasn't sure of the stoppage btw).
I should elucidate: I can't speak for the other Holmes KO voters, but I believe Wlad would have been stopped by a cut that would lead him to not being able to see Larry's overhand rights. The cumulative power of Larry's rights cannot be underestimated, the man had a sharp and vicious right hand. Not the heaviest (he inconsistently bent forward when he threw it, which limited its weight), but a damn fine tool regardless. Ten things to still appreciate about Larry Holmes: https://www.espn.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3428006
A really interesting matchup. Larry has all the intangibles over Wlad as far as stamina, coolness under fire, balance, chin , less susceptibility to being cut as well as having a hand and foot speed advantage over Wladimir but he has to overcome a big height difference , a reach disadvantage and Wlad's overall physical strength. Wladimir also has a far superior left hook to Larry. Neither guy really faced anyone similar to each other either. The kind of pretenders Wlad mainly fought were no Larry Homes but you could say the same about the fighters Larry faced compared to Wladimir. Bonecrusher Smith is pretty similar in size to Wlad and Carl Williams was like a slightly shorter Wlad with a faster jab but no power and much less physical strength. Both fighters have the ability to hurt the other but Larry showed far superior abilities at overcoming a knockdown or being hurt than Wlad did. The Peter fight was the only time Wlad overcame those kind of difficulties and Peter while a big puncher had no stamina. I will go with Larry via either a fairly close win on points or a late stoppage over a tiring Wladimir in a very competitive fight. Cheers All.
Top post. Finally an in depth assessment giving both their due. Holmes would be the best Wlad had faced and Wlad would comfortably be the most dangerous Holmes had faced pre retirement. Holmes has more pedigree under difficulty (tho against lesser men) whilst Wlad is a huge physical speciman with great power who morphed into a style that made him extremely difficult to beat. It would be a fascinating fight and nobody is getting out of it easily. I'd actually pay good dollars to see this one as it would be a bit of a 457 pound chess match for a time.
