Now this is Larry Holmes, who had that battle with Ken Norton. 15 rounds with a torn bicep too. He's stepping forward to meet Tyson.. Who's just kod.. Larry Holmes in 4! So can Larry Holmes avenge his ko, the one he's not suffered yet.. Ww. CONFUSED!
Very Timey Wimey as Doctor Who might say. I'll always maintain that a prime Holmes would beat a prime Tyson. Larry would keep Mike at bay for most of the time with his jab,right cross and uppercut. No doubt that the always dangerous Tyson scores a knockdown at some point,with Holmes clinging on for survival,but survive he would and I see him wearing Tyson down and stopping him late in the fight.
Prime or near enough prime, Holme, beats the 88 Tyson imo too, Stevie. He'd definitely have to survive the danger round s of course, and yes, probably a kd or two at some point. Larry had balls tho, he'd want to prove himself. It's not a walk in the park as we know, mate but I think he does it.
Part of me looks at Douglas's performance and thinks that he did nothing that a prime Holmes couldn't. Another part of me says that Douglas likely hit a good bit harder and that might make the difference, and al that Holmes often got nailed with rights due to how he held his hands. Bad idea against Tyson. Against most guys, he was durable enough to ignore it, but, well, we saw what happened when Tyson nailed him -- and his durability was not gone, since he soaked up a ton of damage without much issue for the 14 years or so he fought on after that loss. Tyson just nailed him that good.
You take 8 years off Holmes and he stops Tyson like Buster did. I feel the best version of Holmes was the one who stopped Cooney and his reflexes and timing was nothing like that rusty old man who Tyson ko'ed. I'd say later in the fight with Tyson's right eye closing he'd stay on his stool or the ref would stop it in a very tough fight for both men.
Holmes had good recuperative powers but you could say Snipes, Shavers, weren't anywhere near as clinical as a finisher as a Prime Tyson was. Cus had been training Tyson to specifically beat Holmes, if Tyson ever fought Holmes for the championship. I do feel Holmes would trouble Tyson with his movement and jab, but I do feel like at some point Tyson would time Holmes's jab and nail him. The question is could a younger/fresher Holmes weather the storm when he gets caught ? We know Holmes can recover when hes hurt. But Tyson is one of the best finishers of all time as I said earlier, I think if Holmes can extend Tyson into 2nd half of the fight. His chances of winning greatly increase, as Tyson isn't known for his stoppages in the 2nd half of a fight. For me it's a very hard one to choose, it's either Tyson by KO in middle rounds. Or Holmes by decision or possibly late stoppage.
I've always believed a prime Holmes would have had the measure of Tyson; weathering the storm in the early going and then taking control, over the course of the latter two-thirds. Holmes W UD 15
I'm much more confident that 78 Holmes outpoints prime Holyfield rather easily over 12. Vs 88 Tyson I'd probably pick Holmes but I'm not as confident.
Holmes has to wrestle the hell out of Mike early on, lots of clinching. He starts finding the range with the jab around the 4th (after getting warned for holding a round earlier). In the 5th Larry's overhand starts landing, at one point knocking the sweat off Mike's head. Mike starts getting a lot more cautious (which means he's eating a lot of jabs and not being aggressive enough). Mike finds the perfect right and scores a kd in the 7th but Holmes gets up and holds, holds, holds. Mike is even more discouraged when Larry not only survives the round but finds the range for the jab again in the 8th, a couple actually snap his head back, making him even more cautious and just looking for the one shot. In the 9th Mike starts a bit of a comeback, landing a flush right that has Holmes backing up and running, but Larry ties him up , ducks a hook on the break, then lands a right uppercut that makes Mike's legs quiver outrageously. Larry follows with a short right but Mike is down for a count of 8 and looking wobbly when he gets up. In the tenth Mike still looks very shaken up, gets hurt by a straight right. Holmes corrals him into the corner and begins his patented hailstorm of rights until the ref stops it with Mikes eyes rolling up in his head. Holmes was comfortably ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage, even with the 10-8 kd round.
It can be legitimately argued that Larry Holmes was the “ greater fighter “ and should have a higher all time standing in ratings. In fact I rate him higher than Mike Tyson. In an actual meeting however I’m a bit skeptical in favoring Holmes. Tyson was excellent at slipping the jab and had very fast hands. And it’s pretty hard to ignore some of the hardships Larry had with Norton, Shavers, Weaver, Snipes and Witherspoon. Even Cooney hurt him at times. I’m going to stay undecided on this one
1978 Larry barely squeaked past a 34 year old Ken Norton, having to go hell for leather in the last round. 1988 Tyson was being talked about, albeit prematurely and incorrectly as it turned out, as a potential best ever. But had Tyson continued in the same vein of form he was in in 1988 for a few more years, that talk might not have been so out of place. A more seasoned version of Holmes than the 1978 version had terrific struggles with the likes of Snipes, Weaver and a green Witherspoon. 1988 Tyson is better than all of them. Throughout his career, Larry gets hit by right hands. Tyson has a great right hand. 1988 Tyson is also a savage finisher. This is the Holmes of the Norton fight - unseasoned with an injury affecting his best weapon, his jab. Larry gets a lot of love on here but I only see one outcome. Tyson within 7.
While I agree this fight is up in the air, the only issue Holmes had with Shavers was the one time Shavers caught him flush in two fights. Other than that one moment, Shavers gave him zero issues. He redeemed that rough fight with Weaver by dominating their old man battle of a rematch. If a rematch 21 years later counts.
Horrible style matchup for Tyson .. Larry's jab no problem throwing off Tysons timing from him coming in .. Tyson was never really good in the clinch so tying him up and resetting not a bad option for Larry either... as his jab and right are pepeering Tyson face all night .. going against an ATG jab is the worst nightmare for a timer trying to come in .. I like Larry to stop him in 10 .. Tyson would get frustrated and couldn't hang with the mental toughness and ring IQ of a Holmes .. with no plan B .. Tyson folds Maybe I'm selling him short but I dont his chances here at all
