The commentators and everyone else were astonished when Leonard came out flat-footed. He never fought that way against aggressive and physically dangerous opponents. He'd almost always opened up with a ton of lateral movement (even getting on his bike) to control the range and the timing of the action. Don't think I know of any other fight against such an opponent where he fought like he did against Duran.
You seem to be one of those many "Ali could never be beaten" types...what bull****. Ken Norton gave Ali all kinds of trouble..and in my mind, deserved 2 out of three wins in those fights. Why then is it so hard for you to believe that a generally superior to Norton fighter like Holmes wouldn't turn the trick as well?
Listen,...2 things I believe (out of many)... 1. Duran beat Leonard because Ray displayed sub par ring IQ in Montreal and fought the wrong type of fight, instead of what obviously worked (in spades) in the Nawlins rematch. 2. Ken Norton broke Muhammad Ali's jaw in the 12th and final round in their 1st fight....not in the first round.
The commentators were extremely biased all fight long in favor of Leonard. “Why would they have Leonard take it inside!” This coming after he’d been hurt at mid range and was covering up against the ropes. They were making excuses for events as they were unfolding. The entire fight. Leonard was a slow starter offensively. Not to say he was vulnerable early on. He just liked to really feel the opponent out before getting to work. He used a lot of lateral movement in many fights while doing so. For the first two rounds, typically. Sometimes he didn’t. He rarely ever fought an entire fight that way. In fact prior to Duran II I don’t recall any such examples. He was a killer, not a dancer. He probably did settle down into that killer mode earlier for Duran the first time, though.
70s Foreman came along at the right time and would've been taken apart by the top guys of any heavyweight era succeeding his or by Liston and first reign Ali..
I'm not any type. I have Louis as the H2H number one Heavyweight. I was just curious to read Ken's reasoning on having Holmes as the best heavyweight in the 70s. My perception has always been that his record was still quite thin in the 70s
An man unhappy with his marriage and how his boxing career ended with possible CTE and alcohol issues would definitely commit suicide.
He never beat manny at 2015,and would never beat him prime for prime.he could never take pacs shots. You can see the effect of pacs punches in their 2015 fight, may was the most defensive ive ever seen him, and any front foot offense he mounted was met with blocks, misses or counters. A faster, younger pac would be even more dangerous, and floyds straight right never bothered pac. In fact, some right hands literally bounced off pacs charging head.
On a head to head scenario there is a strong case for saying that the 1979 Holmes beats all other top heavies of that decade but in rankings it's the achievements of the relelvant people that count in rankings - Larry only came to prominence in the last two years of the seventies. So therefore,he was n't actually the BEST heavy of that timespan. That accolade goes to The Greatest,Muhammad Ali.
