Do you agree with Mike Casey that Tyson's stoppage of a past it Larry Holmes was not an aberration

If you're in a generous mood, you can maybe give Berbick two rounds.

 

Larry looked pretty darn great in that fight, I watch it over and over to appreciate that peak jab!

 

Fine. Carl Williams, then. Michael Spinks, then. Jesus Christ. Talk about belaboring the point.

Tyson knocked out Holmes. Tyson knocked out guys who beat Holmes (Spinks) or gave him fits (Williams) early.

Is that better?

And I meant exactly what I said. Berbick gave him fits. He was the first title challenger who went 15 rounds with Holmes. He was a total no-hoper. The odds were 30-1 Berbick wouldn't last eight rounds.

It was kind of a big deal. (But most of you guys clearly weren't around then.)

Here's what your Canadian grandpas were saying about Trevor Berbick-Holmes after it happened.

https://postimg.cc/RWzgT2nk

 

Well, it happened 50 years ago. It's not exactly breaking news.

Nick Wells stopped Holmes a couple times. Wells dominated Holmes. Isaac floored him as well. So did Shavers. So did Snipes. So did Tyson.

 

Holmes - Berbick is a strange fight. Holmes beats him about 13 rounds to 2 but Berbick had his successes in almost every round - just not often enough to win them. Holmes rammed Berbick with his jab most of the night but Berbick also got inside countless times and belted away despite said jab. He caught Holmes hard quite a few times and it's actually a decent fight to watch in it's own way. Holmes never once dampened Berbick's spirit and enthusiasm. He was a strange cat that Berbick.

 

I can't give Holmes any less than eleven rounds in his fight with Berbick and that's being very generous to Trevor.

 

Props to Holmes he came back from absence to face prime Mike and a few years later a prime Holyfield. I'm sure a younger Holmes does better against both but fighters nowadays as "champs" rarely built like that. Not sure what the equivalent would b in these times but again much nuts on Holmes.

 

Holmes was washed

 

"Larry Holmes kicked me and punched me!"

 

Yeah I meant left

 

Lasting 15 is cool I guess. If it was considered a big deal by reporters at the time I can't argue with you. But Holmes didn't have "fits". He won very easily and it wasn't close. Not one judge thought it was close and nobody with an IQ over 50 thought it was close or that Holmes had to dig deep and struggle to win. Holmes was never badly hurt or frustrated.

If you think Tyson would always be a bad matchup for Holmes then I agree. I think prime vs prime, Tyson wins at least 7x in 10 attempts, but Holmes would really make him work for it. I can envision Tyson having trouble early with that whip like jab, maybe Tyson even has his left eye shut, but corners and eventually pressure Holmes for a KO after a thrilling war within 7-9 rounds or so.

 

Maybe don't talk **** about a man's wife on live TV? Just a thought, Trevor.

 

Holmes is one of my favourite fighters of all time, but he could be a vulnerable champion despite being a great fighter. I feel if Holmes was in trouble like he was vs Shavers 2, Weaver, Snipes, Witherspoon, then Tyson finishes the job.

Overall if Holmes can get past the first 6 rounds, then his chances of victory increase. Because Tyson wasn't known for stopping fighters in the 2nd half of a fight. And Holmes does have attributes that can trouble Tyson like size, reach, ATG jab, movement.

But I do worry about Holmes having a tendency to get caught with right hands, and Cus trained Tyson specifically to time his right hand over Holmes's jab.

Final points I can see an argument for both fighters winning, but I think I'd lean slightly towards Tyson by stoppage in this one personally.

 

Yeah it's one of them fights where Holmes won pretty much every round, but Berbick was spirited and competitive throughout the fight. Berbick may of been a tad vulnerable to punchers, as he was stopped early by Tyson and Mercado. But against boxers he seemed to do very well. He handed Page and Thomas their 1st loss, and gave a prime Larry Holmes who was on his game a tough night.

 

If Tyson is leading after 6 rounds against Holmes, then he will continue to win the fight. I've never seen any Tyson opponent miraculously turn a fight around because they survived into the 6th.

If the fight is close and it goes past the 6th, I'm still going with the fighter who has game changing power and can turn the fight around with one shot.

Tyson and Holmes are my 2 favorite heavyweights of all time. Love em both to death. I know for fact that Cus taught Tyson to specifically run down and destroy Larry Holmes and that style of fighter. It's what Tyson was taught to do since his inception. It's all Tyson ever fought from the ams to professional championship bouts.

I think Mike Tyson beats Larry Holmes more often than not.