Who do you rate higher Ali or Holmes?

It's possible to say that Holmes became Ali's near-equal as a fighter. As personalities there is no comparison. And the copy will always be valued less than the original.

 

Debatable but I think I’d take FotC Ali over Holmes. People exaggerate how much Ali had lost in exile - his losing performance to Frazier was arguably more impressive than any Holmes victory.

Ali after that fight though is losing to peak Holmes. Even the best Ali of the late 60’s would never win this easily, of course.

 

Ali

 

Who do you rate higher: Jordan or Bryant?

 

I'd take any iteration of Ali up to Manila to beat Holmes and the Ali of Manila was not the best iteration but the roughest and toughest.

 

1. re: equals -- Holmes became equal to the best version of 70's Ali. He never matched 60's Ali, although to be a bit fair, that could be due to his late start causing his boxing prime to come well after his physical prime.
2. re: personality -- Yeah, he was surly.
3. re: copy -- Yeah, he was surly because people called him a copy when he wasn't. Exactly what do their styles have in common? His style had more in common with Foreman than Ali -- his defensive style was pretty close to that of 70's Foreman and didn't resemble Ali's at all, and his offensive style had only the faintest resemblance to anything Ali did.

 

Holmes is my favorite HWC. I detest Ali but he does have a better resume as there were better fighters during his time so I rate him higher

 

Hi Robert.
Have to say in all my time on the forum, don't think I have ever seen the word " detest " levelled at a boxer, I am intrigued as to why, would you mind telling us your reasoning behind your feelings ? if not that's at your discretion, and I respect that.
stay safe buddy, chat soon.

 

There's a boxer who called journalists "fa--ots, said he would make his opponent his girlfriend, and bit two of his opponents. I don't detest him.

 

I'm the biggest Holmes fanboy here and I pick Ali of course. Larry never beat a Frazier, Foreman, or Liston. Ali also succeeded in his comeback, spectacularly so. Larry didn't, though he showed a ton of skill and heart.

 

Any Ali post-FOTC gets beaten by Holmes, probably a majority decision. Before that Holmes loses a majority.

 

To be fair Larry was much older in his comeback.

 

He was perceived as a copy because he fought on his toes a lot and often used the perimeter of the ring. So he was only a copy when viewed superficially. Before Holmes, I can't recall any other heavyweight besides Ali who was as mobile.

 

In my opinion any version of Ali circa 1964-74 beats a prime Holmes. Provided Muhammad's in top shape and focused - for the benefit of any who will say "What about Ali losing to Norton,then?"