Muhammad Ali (Spinks II fight) vs Larry Holmes (Norton fight)

Larry unanimous decision. I think the scorecards would be closer than the actual fight due to the judges giving Ali rounds late in his career.

 

It would have still been too late for Muhammad to have beaten Larry at this stage. In my opinion for an incarnation of Ali who could have beaten Holmes,the most recent would have been the 1974 one of Zaire. That would have been a very tight one but I visualise Muhammad pulling it off by a close decision.

Returning to the post,in 1978 Holmes clearly outpoints Ali over the distance. A very decisive victory for the former but not the carcrash of their real fight.

 

Holmes murders him. Ali had nothing here.

 

Holmes would have beaten that version.

 

Holme's by decision.

 

Holmes and it wouldn't have been competitive.

 

Holmes

 

Holmes. Norton would have been Ali too.

 

Larry stops him in 11. Might be a stool retirement.

 

Holmes would win by UD 15. But still, Ali was not in bad shape for the Spinks rematch, he was dancing constantly for 15 rounds, if I remember right. The earliest version of Ali that had a realistic chance of beating 1980 Holmes, would be the Ali in the 3rd Norton fight 1976.

 

Holmes wins easily. Spinks vs Ali II was a frustrating fight to watch. The only reason Ali won was becasue he was allowed to hold when ever Spinis got close to him. Ali would just jab on the outside, pile up points and hold Spinks whenever he got close. Against Holmes, he would not win the outside game at that point of his career.

 

Easy win for Holmes. Clear decision or maybe a repeat of their real fight with dundee stopping it before the 15th round

 

For 2nd Spinks Ali got in his best shape to win the rematch but his abilities had already declined. Still he would have been quite a bit better than the Ali vs Holmes version. I’m sure he worked hard for the Holmes fight also but he was 2 years laid off and older. Plus he was in cognitive decline by then. Before the Holmes fight he was already slurring his words a bit. Don’t remember that at time of Spinks fight.
He scores and defends a bit better but his better opposition means Holmes doesn’t hold back as much and Larry wins a lopsided UD or stops him late.