Holmes uses his far superior feet and snaps the jab out whilst dancing around Louis to either side and Louis cannot pin him down and when people used their feet against Louis, he looked one dimensional stalking them walking forward doing the same thing
Holmes SD. Both fast, Louis stronger of course. Louis a little too patient for Holmes imo, and not quite as determined. Larry up on his toes for 4 or 5 rounds, gets tagged and hits the deck. Gets up to get outpounded and outjabbed, comes back late w/ a lot of back and forth and pulls an SD. Excellent fight.
I think Louis takes the decision. I'll give Holmes the benefit of the doubt and say he makes it to the end.
Larry's my favorite fighter, but he won't win this one. He does an amazing job in the first six rounds, moving like he did in Shavers I. In the sixth he throws three surprise lead rights, the third lands flush for a flash knockdown of Louis. Joe gets up and has a very determined look on his face. Larry starts relaxing a bit too much in the 7th and a bullet right hand pole-axes him to the canvas for a count of 7. He isn't doing great but manages to hold like crazy and even sneak a great right uppercut in on Joe as he comes in. Holmes is still looking unsteady walking to his stool. In the 8th round Holmes is in control with the jab again, though he's not as good on his feet as before. Joe is landing some really smart body punches, and Larry winces as a right hand lands to the ribs. His left is dropping lower again by the end of the 8th round, and his side is starting to really hurt. It ends up taking a good portion of his movement away. In the 9th Joe is landing more, the right hands are starting to get through. Larry is still able to keep him from the big finish with his jab, but his movement is minimal in the 10th. In the 11th Joe starts landing combinations, and Larry is doing the old jab-right-hold thing...too much. Most of his punches are either missing, blocked, or lacking snap. In the 12th Holmes is ahead by two points but his corner tells him to mix it up as hard as he can anyway. Larry tries a left uppercut, but Louis slips it and again scores a big right, and Larry attempts to evade by going to the corner in order to slip the inevitable flurry. Instead Joe fakes a left, Holmes falls for it, and is demo'd by a terrific overhand right. He gets up at 8, legs wobbling but head shaking yes at the ref's questions. Louis goes right through him with a machine-like combination, Holmes falls and the ref steps between them. Louis by tough-fought 12th round TKO.
Louis over the course of the battle will land enough right hands over Holmes lowered left to stop him later on. Holmes will win the early rounds while fresh and moving but he invariably settled down later in fights and this is when Louis would start to shine. Often overlooked is Joe's brutal body punching and he would be investing in these whenever he got the chance. He would win most of the exchanges with his blinding combinations and at some point hurt Holmes and find the finish. Anywhere from 7-12 for me.
