He seemed like his head wasn't in the ring for the first half of the fight. It was like the prelude to his spectacle against Lewis in the rematch, lol.
He had sparring partner syndrome for almost every fight he took as a pro, the only one I'd say he really tried from the start in was Lewis I.
Two Holmes fights you should watch are.... Larry Holmes vs Jesse Ferguson = Holmes almost stopped in the 2nd round Ferguson run him pretty close. Larry Holmes vs Quinn Navarre = Multiple knockdowns another close fight. Two Holmes fights that aren't ever mentioned but they were very close fights.
McCall hurt Larry in the 9th (iirc) and kind of backed him down a bit for the rest. Before that Larry was looking pretty damn good. I had it one point for Oliver.
I haven't seen this fight since when it first aired. My memory of it is that Holmes got another chance at the title, this time against someone he had a very good chance of beating, and didn't put any effort into it and lost again. I recall a boring, lousy fight and that McCall did win it. I'd have to view it again.
1. 10-9 Holmes 2. 10-9 Holmes 3. 10-9 McCall 4. 10-9 McCall 5. 10-9 Holmes 6. 10-9 McCall 7. 10-9 McCall 8. 10-9 Holmes 9. 10-9 McCall 10. 10-9 Holmes 11. 10-9 McCall 12. 10-9 McCall 115-113 McCall. Competitive but I think he won.