Holmes was hurt and too far behind...Ali called it well....Lucky for Holmes he did not have to fight Nick Wells, who KO'd Holme in the 3rd, then the 1st...Those 3 loses Holmes had were to White fighters, do you think that is why he made disparaging and adverse statements about Marciano...Funny but Wells was listed as 5"10 but he would have been better suited vs Stevenson than Bobick, because of his dynamic one punch power...He was beating Bobick but they stopped it because of a cut Wells walked into the ring with. Anyway Larry turned out to become a good pro, very connected though and ratings paid for by King (proven) Amatuer experience is always a benifit and it also can expose your weakness vs real amatuer experience. Ray Leonard was one of my favorite amatuers...Tony Ayala was impressive...Wells was a killer...Breyland.....Curry....Shaun O"Sullivan & Willie Dewitt were solid amatuers who were misguided in the pro ranks and ruined, so was Wells.....Holmes had all the best connections and solid training....Don King did him well...Holmes was Don's best projects
Precisely. Actually, that dq loss probably helped the Holmes career if you think about it. He was getting hit by the right hands of Bobick and people don't realize the winner had to face Stevenson. In a big profile bout with lots of pressure. And what a formidable guy Stevenson was at the time. A bad loss to that guy--especially in lieu of the Wells ko's---and King probably never touches Holmes. What a tough time to be a heavyweight amatuer tho. And Lyle turned pro in 71 instead of staying as an amatuer & he had an amatuer ko over Bobick as well. The problem was you had to go thru a youthful Stevenson after surviving all those top notch contemporaries. 76 was even moreso and you also had Vysotsky on his tear at the time. But there was a ton of US talent and we could sure use some of that again. I'm sure a lot of those guys wish they could go into a time capsule and pick another timeframe.
