I like Holmes. While others perhaps found him coarse, arrogant and ungrateful, I think he was very much what was needed, as the extended Ali Show was coming to a close. While he would never gain a wider popularity, I actually found Holmes' total departure from flamboyant presentation quite a refreshing change and his dry, no-nonsense attitude to be quite funny. Holmes, to my mind is one of the greatest heavyweight technicians ever. His IQ and ring generalship, combined with that extraordinary jab, chin and a will to win, makes him a nightmare for any other heavyweight in history. He's #3 in my ATG HW Listing, behind only Ali and Louis.
Me too. I've probably driven many members crazy saying this over and over: Larry's my favorite fighter. He was Champ back when I REALLY got into boxing (I remember being very young and being really disappointed watching what for me was the unutterably boring Ali-Spinks, and then watching Norton-Holmes and cheering for both of them). Larry was a complex personality, I love his cantankerousness. And I've spent what seems a million years appreciating his ring intelligence, best and most dominant jab in heavy history, his underrated, punishing right. Love him, always will.
I rate him above Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis and the Klitschkos. He's greater than any heavyweight fighter who has come since his reign ended.
Top five. Actually three of his six losses were three wins. He was robbed two times with Spinks and one with Nielsen.
When I'm deepest into the well of hero worship I think of Larry as a three-time champ. He won that title back from Spinks in the second fight, plus it's too bad Mercer relinquished the WBO title just to fight Larry. In other words, Mercer was a champ and he beat him soundly. He should have gotten that belt.
It’s been a while but I had the first Spinks fight a draw and the 2nd for Holmes. Yeah he should have either won it back or never lost it. Not a robbery but a close decision I had in his favor.
I rate him second to Ali but I would take Larry H2H. I rate Larry’s jock strap above Marciano, but Rocky was good enough to carry it and maybe even get a tip if he smiled while doing so.
Though the fight doesn't end in a ko, the Berbick fight was a great one to watch in terms of how effective Larry's jab was. Berbick was a notoriously difficult, weird fighter to deal with but Larry dominated the heck out of him with that left. He also landed some admirable rights...not super powerful but accurate and appropriately ugly. Well worth a watch/rewatch. Watch Holmes' face when he twists that jab...talk about nasty, mean intentions. I had Berbick winning a big 3 rounds lol. He did come alive several times, which made it even more interesting to watch. Of course, if you want to see a fight that qualifies as boxing Art, watch the first Shavers fight.
Maybe the 2nd toughest, no heavyweight in history was as tough as Ali inside or outside of a boxing ring.
I think that Larry Holmes was a very great champion, he had a hard left jab, good ring generalship, good lateral movement, had tons of heart, dominated the majority of the 1980's. His right hand was no joke, had lots of confidence, knew how to behave like a champion. He also looked good in defeating the opponents he fought in his era. A positive champion in the post Muhammad Ali era.
watch the shavers punch. See him get up. Watch the 15th with Norton. Not a very likeable person when he was younger.... but boy could he fight. Ali beats him on speed. Frazier --Holmes? I wince at watching that. Anyone else.... Larry outboxes. Could he beat Frazier?
This is a difficult question for a lot of boxing people. On the one hand, Frazier beat a still-great (just a tiny bit past it), under 30 Ali. On the other hand, 1980 Holmes was probably a significantly better fighter than Ali at that point, and the FOTC wasn't exactly an overwhelming decision (Ali had some GREAT early rounds imo). I see FOTC Frazier winning a close decision still, but...Joe didn't really have Holmes' kryptonite (the overhand right), so it's tough to make a firm pick imo. Betting would be torturous for me. I doubt there would be any knockdowns, or stoppages. Both men would be standing at the end of the fight.
