We haven't been talking much about Holmes vs early-mid Norton. The Holmes-Norton we did see was razor thin, and perhaps some unfortunate corner advice to Norton going into the 15th round. We'd see a younger and perhaps better motivated Norton, while Larry (likely) would be operating without anything like a training tear of his left bicep.
I think he does well against everyone, with the exception of Norton, who was in his prime in the early 70's.
The fact that this guy picks Holmes to beat all three makes my point better than anything I could ever say.
Even FOTC Ali was much better at every facet of the game than Holmes except possibly stamina. But I highly doubt Holmes' stamina would be looking so hot with Frazier banging that left hook at his body either.
Early 70s Frazier has his number, toss-up for Ali, Norton, and Foreman. Holmes likely wouldn't be as well regarded unless he did manage to win at least once in a trilogy if he faced the latter three. He said something along the lines of "I was lucky my professional career kicked off at the perfect timing, Liston was dead, Frazier and Foreman were retired, Ali was past his prime, and I faced Norton when he was on the decline."
Exactly. Norton is almost treated as an afterthought. At their best these two would put on a series of fantastic fights with not much separating them. Overall Holmes is the greater fighter as he's going to be less susceptible to punchers but put them together and there's going to be some serious music.
I think FOTC Ali drops a close decision to a prime Holmes but - provided he's in maximum shape - the Ali of 1972-74 beats Holmes on points.
Holmes always had trouble with fighters who were not afraid to let rip at him. He is so often compared to Muhammad Ali, and I know not why. Larry didn’t have Muhammad’s speed of hand or foot. He didn’t have anything approaching the Louisville Lip’s grace, versatility or inventiveness. Ali, like Tunney, could change horses in mid-stream and re-structure his game plan. Larry’s talent in that department was strictly finite. http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/casey/MC_HolmesLewis.htm
I would argue that FOTC Ali while obviously not as good as some of the versions of himself that preceded that match was better than any version of himself that succeeded it. That being said craftier and more versatile versions were to follow