Great jab Decent movement Average power Above average defense Good hand speed SMART - very adaptable Immense heart Good but not great chin Lousy personality
I prefer Lewis, Wlad, and Tyson over him. Holyfield too, if PED use is discounted. He didn’t clean out enough of the top guys for my taste.
Wlad did in the Peter fight. Three of them, actually. He did in others but I can't recalll the names.
I was 10 when Holmes embarrassed Ali. I was devastated. I hated Holmes. Watched every fight in the hopes he’d get emasculated. Jumped up and down when Snipes floored him in 81. Screamed for Cooney. Hoped beyond hopes for Tex Cobb. Couldn’t wait for someone to destroy him. Never happened. It was before YouTube so I couldn’t remember when Shavers floored him or when Norton took him to the brink in one of the greatest fights ever. Watched Spinks win twice by decision, but I wasn’t satisfied. Weak wins. Then, when his career wound down, saw Tyson crush him, and didn’t care. Didn’t mean anything to me by that point. Later, as I was mature, Holmes fought well into the 90’s and I was turned into a fan. The age of the internet brought me to what he really was…. an incredibly skilled fighter, one with an incredible chin and brutal jab. A technician who took a punch with anyone in history. The guy turned into one of my all time favorites based on his fight with Norton alone. He’s #2 on my list all time behind Ali. I can’t see him losing in his prime to any other heavyweight, save for possibly Lennox Lewis.
Weak era, never unified, is lesser than Ali. He is barely in my top 10 or just outside of it. I have Foreman, Tyson, both Kitchkos, Holyfield, Marciano, Dempsey, Frazier, Liston, Joe Louis, and LL ahead of him. Norton was his best win, and he barely escaped with it. Norton is widely considered barely HOF worthy. Holmes was lucky and boring. He fought down to his opponents level and never dominated. It is a shame we never got to see Holmes fight in a better era.