What if Holmes won the rematch against Spinks?

Holmes did win the re-match in the eyes of the public. It was three blind mice that robbed him him of a decision. Tyson was not ready for Holmes in 1986. He had some issues with Tillis. I don't think Holmes would fight Tyson either in 1986. Too much risk, and not enough reward for either camp.

 

:thumbsup teh MYTHICAL PRIME Tyson was teh same Fighter in ALL of 1986 - even teh MAGICAL Berbick-Fight version lol And i scored teh Tillis fight 5-4-1 for Tilly. Holmes jab his head-off in 1986 - BUT too OLD after 1986 too win.



Foreman Hooooook! :hat

 

earnie shavers was a hard puncher with a single shot(his hitting power is seriously overrated, i think that foreman was harder puncher), mike got great ,hard and accurate combinations, tyson might hurt more to holmes with a combination than shavers did with a crazy hit. you can´t compare shavers with tyson, i am not saying he would do 100%, but i think that a prime tyson might well ko or tko a prime holmes.
:good

 

Don King would definitely have moved Heaven and Earth to get Holmes and Tyson together by the end of '86. Tyson would still have won,but Larry could have been battered,but still standing at the end.

 

I'm one of the biggest Tyson fans on here but I can't see him ko'ing a prime Holmes EVER. We all will share different opinions I respect that. I do agree that Shavers' power may be abit overrated but if Holmes & Ali said that Earnie hit them the hardest I can't argue with that. Foreman may have been more of an accumulative puncher than Shavers but he still could spark dudes out sometimes. For all it's worth I prefer watching Foreman anyways.

 

like you know (and ironchamp,tommygun711,reznick......) i am not the biggest tyson fan, but i can´t ignore the facts. you are right, holmes might survive, but not more,holmes had lion heart, 2 balls but i think that holmes was too static with the feet to avoid tyson. holmes was not ali. and holmes was boxer-puncher, he did accept the exchange of blows, it is because i can see foreman and tyson winning on him by ko

 

Had Holmes got his IBF title back in April 1986 against Spinks, I think Holmes would've been razor sharp for Tyson in the fall of 1986....

The Holmes who came back in Jan. '88 was posing problems to Tyson before getting caught and stopped in round 4.... I thought Holmes was doing well in '88 for such a rusty nail...

Holmes had a real shot of schooling Tyson in 1986........

MR.BILL

 

Good post. Holmes moved pretty well against Shavers in the first fight but was more stationary in the rematch for some reason. I just think he had too much heart to get ko'd and I think the Holmes that Tyson fought was more in it for the money. I can't see why people still dislike Mike because he now admits to his faults and is trying to become a better person. He's more likable in his older age but I understand that we can't like everybody.

 

Out of the men available, who would be lined up to fight Holmes after his "what-if" Spinks victory?

I was thinking he'd go up against Tony Tucker or Buster Douglas. Larry was a shrewd man when it came to his contracts and had no qualms about fighting a lower ranked fighter for more money (that's why I still postulate Douglas as an option). Especially during this part of his life. He was suffering the same "aging burnout" that Hagler had reached upon his fight with Leonard.

For as good I thought Larry was as a champ, the mid-1980s Larry is probably the most uninspired version to ever step in the ring.

 

And it would be a 15 rounder! I'd love to see a young Tyson try to go 15 rounds against Holmes.

 

Great point. Holmes, at 35/36 went 15 rounds three times in under a year against Williams and Spinks.

 

I think Tyson's handlers would have avoided Larry in '86 had Larry beat Spinks and held the IBF title. They would have still had Tyson face and beat Berbick, and get in a few defenses, then face Holmes in late 87 in a unification match, which Tyson would have won. Another interesting sceenario: What if Witherspoon had beaten Bonecrusher and got the early '87 fight with Tyson. Could a focussed Time Witherspoon have provided Iron Mike with a tougher fight than Boncecrusher. I think so.

 

If Holmes had been given the decision against Spinks he would have probably either retired or fought Gerry Cooney next for mega-millions.

The HBO/Don King unification plans were already started, but Holmes surely wouldn't have wanted to bother with fighting Witherspoon or Berbick in unification matches.

Tyson-Holmes was being floated and negotiated as a fight in Aug/Sep '86, but Jacobs and Cayton chose to go after Berbick for the title instead, Holmes had no title. Really I do think the risk was considered too great for BOTH fighters at the time, financially it was potentially big but not THAT big (Tyson was still unproven at top level, and Holmes was title-less and his drawing power was diminished). Holmes was probably more willing but he wanted his fair cut of the purse, and Tyson's managers probably never intended to fight him but were just play hard to get with Don King and the Berbick match.
At the time everyone was actually still looking to fight Cooney. I believe that's what Holmes would have done. The IBF might have stripped Holmes. Holmes-Cooney 2, It would have been massive, overshadowed Tyson and the unification tournament.
As it was, Cooney went after Spinks, Holmes announced his retirement in November 1986, Tyson emerged as the man to unify the titles.