Dead tie for me. Both very close in all their best areas. Both fast. Ali faster. Neither big punchers, but Holmes the bigger puncher. Both high-stamina, Ali higher-stamina. Both accurate, Holmes moreso. Dead tie as I said, could be an SD either way by one point. These two would probably throw down a few times before it became clear that neither could beat the other decisively.
Holmes on points. A slow, looping puncher with suspect stamina, displaying a low ring IQ and who could be befuddled by Ali's mind games is the opposite of what peak Holmes brought to the table. If Ali stood on the ropes against Larry, Larry would not over-commit like George did, he would just stick his jab in Ali's face and accumulate rounds. To beat Holmes, 1974 Muhammad would have to use a completely different strategy to the one he used against Foreman, and I don't think he had the legs or speed to do it successfully against the very best Holmes.
Ali on close points People are forgetting Ali still had quicker hands. Larry never had faster hands than Muhammad.
I think a '74 Ali beats a prime Holmes by a razor thin UD. '67 Ali still struggles but theirs's more daylight in the cards.
i consider '74 ali as over the hill, while' 82 holmes as prime, so you should see who my favorite between these two very similar champions is. the problem with this assumption is ali's ever present "x factor". ali, more than once, was winning against all odds and, during this time frame, was still capable of pulling the rabbit out of his head when no one expected it or gave him a chance.
he was pulling rabbits, but not against someone like Larry Holmes. Ive always considered Larry superiour to ali
Holmes by a tougher fought UD than some here might think (not referring to you, Robert). I think Ali would put the same psych job on Larry as he did in 1980...only this is six years earlier. Ali would have gotten some good combinations in and probably knocked some serious sweat off of Larry's head, but Larry's jab would have had him retreating a lot. Holmes would have been the aggressor. Holmes wins by 2 points on one card (sentimental vote for Ali), four on two others.
Absolutely not ! Ali found a way against Foreman....except I don't rank prime Foreman against 1982 Holmes (as much as I love George).
