Rumor that Mercer threw the Holmes fight?

At the time I kinda suspected that’s what he did but I’m not sure.. in the very first round he nailed Holmes with a big shot that sent him reeling across the ring... Then seemingly did nothing for the rest of the evening.... The winner was promised a fight With Evander.. One of them had a big name.. The other didn’t...

 

What could Mercer possibly have gained? He relinquished the WBO belt to fight Holmes, so why throw away your belt and the fight?

More importantly, is any evidence being offered at all?

Yeah, but Mercer was like that. This is the guy who some people felt beat Lewis, and the guy who lost to Jesse Ferguson. This is the guy who almost killed Tommy Morrison, and the guy who went to war with oft-quickly dispatched Bert Cooper. He was, along with Moorer, the ultimate hot-and-cold fighter, sometimes changing between the two within the fight.

 

No

Even a badly faded Holmes was too good for the straight ahead Mercer. Holmes could still jab and set traps o ff the ropes whle tying Mercer up and breaking his rythem.

 

Not a fake. I saw the fight. Mercer tried, but Holmes was too fast, too skillful, too experienced and defensively clever. Mercer was strong but hittable, and his condition never was his strong suit, except in a few fights.

 

Holmes wasn’t any bigger a draw than Mercer

Exactly. Also, Holmes was not a bigger draw than Mercer at this point. It was in nobody’s interest apart from Holmes for Holmes to win the fight.

 

Rubbish - Mercer had just destroyed a big ticket fighter in Morrison and was a gold medal winner had he also beaten Holmes a promotion vs Holyfield and Mercer would of been sweet. That’s a fight you could sell.

 

No...Holmes was just that damn good!

 

What is GFOB?

 

Who wrote and published that?

And why does it say "Order Holmes-Mercer Fight #112" at the end?

Looks like Kurt Noltimer, who sold boxing videos back then, wrote it himself. That just sounds like a message board post on here from some guy rambling he thought a fix was in. The "article" doesn't even support the guy's claim. If Mercer threw the fight, why didn't he get the title shot with the winner? Because he didn't "throw" anything. He got outjabbed and embarrassed.

At the time, Mercer was supposed to defend the WBO title against Michael Moorer. But he was offered more money to fight Holmes. So he vacated and fought Holmes. And the night was a total disaster for him.

 

No idea. And why are they selling a copy of the fight at the end of the article?

It's not from an actual magazine.

 

There was no need to fix it though. Ray didnt have skill to defeat even an aged Holmes. The boxing skills, the way to breakdown a boxer like Larry Holmes. Damiani had shown Ray Mercer struggled with anyone with finesse. No headmovment, below average speed even Mercer's power was a little overrated because he had landed a lucky punch vs Damiani and Morrison had punched himself out after 4 rounds of pummelling Ray.

 

You're telling me Mercer threw away a title shot to let Holmes get it? Bull****. Also Mercer alongside Lewis and Bowe were all seen as the next big thing so they would be big bouts. Mercer like always had little dedication but he did well in the early rounds against Holmes and the older fighter had better stamina and rangier faster straight punches won out down the stretch

 

Nailed it again Mr M, I'm sure that Mercer tried to beat Holmes but found himself flopping badly against the experience of Larry.

 

It's obvious from watching the fight that Mercer underestimated Larry. Ray was riding VERY high off his ko of Morrison, and was bragging some big things about trashing Larry worse than Tyson, etc.

Ray was all over Larry from the opening bell, and he most certainly DID land some great shots after...just not flush. Larry was a fighter with one of the highest ring IQs in the sport. He learned from taking that big left hand what to do: if he was too old with slowed reflexes to duck/slip a punch, roll with it. It wasn't his modified rope-a-dope that won him the fight, it was his dazzling display of experience. Mercer's best shots were landing on a guy who was just riding them out on his head. It was an amazing performance, but the awful thing is that Mercer had abdicated his WBO belt before that fight. Larry deserved to win that title based on that, one of the greatest and most awe-inspiring performances of his career.

Imo, Larry is a three-time world champion, I don't care about paper in this case. He soundly beat Spinks that second time, and Mercer was WBO champion. He even went the distance with Holy at his peak (geez, Tyson could only go 11 with a waaaay past his prime Evander).