Tyson was faster, stronger and way more skilled than Louis, both in terms of offense and especially in terms of defense.
Louis' legs went in the 5th rd against Marciano,from then on he was a sitting duck. I always quote facts my little Shadow. If not I invariably add .IMO. Fact Louis had engaged in 85rds of pro boxing since his comeback. Fact Louis had engaged in 220rds [these are just the verified bouts],of exhibitions since he retired. Fact Holmes was rushed into a fight withTyson after nearly 2 years chasing his Wife Diane around the kitchen table, and drinking beer. When you catch me out in an inaccuracy please correct me. Until then-------------------------------------------------------------------
He wasn't a good inside fighter.Louis was. He wasn't as good a boxer as Louis. That is my position you can disagree. Now perhaps we can get back on track?
I’m up to speed with the Bomber also. The FYI was just a civil volunteering that the 2 KDs suffered against Marciano should be contextually qualified also - just as you qualified the context of the KDs suffered by Holmes vs Tyson. So yeah, I already did spot the difference. And no amount of rounds were going to change the fact that Joe Louis was well beyond his salad days vs Rocky - and irretrievably so. If Larry’s 3 KDs don’t count, then with equal consideration, neither do Joe’s against Marciano.
Seriously? Louis was just a straight in, shuffle forward stalker. Tyson had a far more difficult style to solve for anybody.
You fail to see the difference between an active fighter who, since losing by decision to the world champion, was unbeaten , an active fighter who was ranked no 2 in the world,and a retired ex champ who had done no training and who it is well documented was rushed into the fight? We must disagree P.
Strange he went 25 defences and 12 years without defeat?You would have thought someone would have spotted what you have, don't you think? In 69 fights against all styles Louis was outpointed ONCE.
Well Louis was "The Brown Bomber", not the "Bronze Bomber". Anyway, I'll go with Holmes by decision, using his jab to outbox him.
Yes, and was also KO'ed once, in his prime, by someone who is not in any "all-time great" discussions. I think a lot of champs would have a similar record if they were fighting little rolly polly guys with pot bellies.
I am not sure whether I have properly considered this match-up before; possibly because I quickly realize how difficult it is to separate these two, head-to-head. For sure, I wouldn't bet on a winner of a bout, between Louis and Holmes.
Sure we can disagree, no drama. I’m not going to alienate a knowledgeable and polite poster such as yourself. However it is completely incorrect to say I failed to see any differences. I actually highlighted the difference in treatment of Holmes KDs suffered against Tyson vs that of Louis’ KDs suffered against Marciano, the latter KDs not qualified in equal proportion. - Even if one somehow believes the latter KDs of Holmes were more excusable -Louis’ KDs in his last fight should not be cited without any due context - Louis was beyond beyond prime vs Marciano. He already showed notable deterioration toward the end of his reign and his fight vs Charles a little bit later proved that Joe had little left against truly class comp. Larry didn’t appear so badly off (as Louis) in his hotly disputed loss in the Spinks rematch, upon which he first retired. Holmes might not have been perfectly match fit for Iron Mike but I’d say his substantive physical status was still better than Joes in ‘51 - more rounds on an already shot fighter doesn’t necessarily improve him - and can in fact take more from him. As we saw for Larry, more time to prepare, more rounds, allowing better match fitness overall sharpened up his tools but if he was in the physical decline that Louis was in, more fights wouldn’t have mattered. Tyson simply landed an hellacious punch that brought an otherwise, unharmed Larry undone, with Holmes being seen off later in that same round. The contention would be if Tyson could’ve landed that punch on a better prepared Holmes - that punch landing in its own right is gonna drop Larry anyway, IMO. And threading the needle, the 2nd KD against Tyson was really more an after shock symptom of the first KD rather than a KD in its own right. Just making myself clear here, all good.
Louis was poor against Charles but, by dint of ring action recovered some of his timing.His right hand was irrevocably gone imo, and he was no longer the Brown Bomber,no disagreement there.However he was better off than Holmes was v Tyson imo. All good here.
