Douglas beat Tyson, and Tyson destroyed Holmes. But lets take Tyson out of the equation. Who wins this and why?
Tokyo Buster Douglas ? You mean a motivated Buster Douglas ? That motivation will not help him when he gets his head boxed off by Holmes
Motivated Douglas best attributes were his jab and heart which still weren't on par with Larry's so I have Holmes with a close decision or late stoppage in a good fight.
Tokyo James Buster Douglas had too many outside tragic distractions to fear Mike Tyson on the night of Feb 11 1990. Essentially, he had nothing to lose but everything to gain. Larry Holmes fought with a chip on his shoulder, having to live in the post Muhammad Ali era, despite defeating a shell of the former champion on Oct 2 1980. Larry would be motivated against Douglas, using his very hard left jab, using good lateral movement, crashing home his crisp right hands, brisk combinations to score the points victory, as this fight turns into a tedious affair against two boxers.
Holmes decision win. Buster wouldn’t have Holmes coming at him like Tyson. Holmes measures him. Two completely different fighting styles.
Prime Douglas beat out of shape Tyson and Prime Tyson destroyed old and past his best Larry Holmes. This would be better.
1980 Holmes would have been irritated by Douglas (perhaps even perplexed by his jab and knocked off balance a few times), but would have found range for the right hand by the 10th round. Douglas would be cowering in the corner from a rain of rights when the ref stops it in 12.
Id favor Holmes more often than not to win a decision. But Holmes would have his hands full and it would be competitive.
Let's see...a guy who caught lightning in a bottle for one night in 1990....or...a guy who was champion from 1978 to 1985....Gee...tough one!
