What Was Larry Holmes Greatest Fight?

Shavers 1 was arguably his best performance against a very dangerous opponent. Holmes won every single round from start to finish in a virtuoso performance.

Norton is his most memorable fight in terms of action/drama.

Cooney was his biggest fight.

 

Great choices. I'd add Shavers 2 showed his considerable ability to come back from the depths and Weaver showed his ability to hang in there and gut out an extremely tough fight. He won that fight on determination as much as anything. Witherspoon also saw it on display. Two surprisingly good displays from heavy underdogs.

 

That's what separated Holmes from the rest of the 80s Heavyweights at that time.

When Holmes had an off night or found himself in trouble he had the heart and determination to normally dig himself out of hole.

Just consistently being good is a skill in itself that's why despite someone like Greg Page having bundles of talent he just didn't have that consistency.

 

In Shavers 1 Larry put on an absolute clinic but I still hold the Norton fight in very high regard.

It’s also perhaps easier and more practical to nominate a few or several fights since,
generally, no one fight allows a fighter to uphold all that he can be and of course the quality of opposition in question comes into the equation.

I like the Norton fight because it upheld Larry’s technical proficiencies whilst proving that he had one of hell of chin and was also in possession of ATG heart and determination.

 

Norton.

His best opponent, great fight. Won it partially fighting on Norton's terms. Also claimed to have injured the right bicep a bit before, so overcoming adversity.

Witherspoon, Cooney and the Shavers fights all great choices.

The underrated one is Leon Spinks. We all sadly remember Leon mostly for what he deteriorated into, but at that time, he had only lost to Ali and Coetzee. He was still the guy who dethroned Ali, still a dangerous pressure fight with handspeed and power (for his size), and was coming off a win against the dangerous Bernardo Mercado (himself a victor over Berbick and Shavers, for context). Holmes wiped him out.

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Vote tally for his top ten wins:

Norton-5
Witherspoon-5
Shavers 2-5
Cooney -5
Berbick-5
Leon Spinks-5
Bonecrusher-4
Mercer-4
Shavers 1-4
Weaver-4
Ali-1
Williams-1
Bey-1
Cobb-1

 

Good mention on Leon. That win is regarded differently now than it was at the time.

Leon beat Mercado in an eliminator and Larry absolutely crushed him. And the Leon of Bernardo/Holmes is on par with the Leon who beat Ali — he was, whatever you want to say about him, the best version of himself.

 

Absolutely. Most of the better fighters he fought nailed him, and nailed him hard. Heavy underdogs Weaver and Witherspoon were better than thought and both hit him with some big punches and took him deep. Holmes could get caught with basic punches at times but his desire and will was over and above the guys that dragged him out into deep water. Will, heart and conditioning was the difference more than once. Witherspoon was in a good position to potentially dethrone him (quite a few people did score it for Tim, or a draw) but went a bit shy in round 10 and didn't really "chase it" in 11 or 12 either.

 

For me the Norton fight because of him pulling his left bicep a few days before the fight. Also its my personal favorite and although it didnt happen I wish they had a rematch even though Larry would most likely have won it.

 

Every post so far has been excellent and accurate,plus they really do undereline
that Larry Holmes is an elite ATG.

 

Shavers 1 was a boxing masterclass

 

Probably Mercer since Holmes was 42 at the time taking on a prime Mercer who just brutally KO'd Morrison.

 

Dominant performances:
Earnie Shavers 1
Ossie Ocasio
Leon Spinks
Gerry Cooney
Ray Mercer


Competitive fights:
Ken Norton
Tim Witherspoon
Mike Weaver
Renaldo Snipes
Carl Williams

 

Snipes fight wasn't much competetive barring the knockdown.