80s Tyson vs 80s Holmes

The Larry Holmes who fought Mike Tyson in 1988 was way past his prime and coming off a two year layoff (I believe inspired by the George Foreman comeback and, specially by Sugar Ray Leonard's victory-performance?-against Marvelous Marvin Hagler).

Yet he still did reasonably well and gained pundits and fans' respect in the first 3 rounds.

Also Tony Tucker was outboxing Tyson before he broke a bone in round 4 I think. Tucker was bigger than Holmes, true, but Larry had one of the greatest jabs in the history of the game and was pound per pound way above Tucker.

This is why I think prime Holmes from 1980-82 probably beats a prime Tyson. It would not be easy and Tyson would definitely hurt Holmes at some point, but Larry would pull through.

 

I have Tyson over Holmes if you're talking strictly about their resume in 80s.

Holmes went 16-3 in the 80s with 16 title defences.

Tyson went 37-0 in the 80s with 9 title defences.

Why i rate Tyson over Holmes is because he dismantled Spinks twice who beat Holmes, he also beat the man himself Holmes although Holmes was past it but still formidable as his 90s run showed. Tyson also destroyed fighters like Williams who run Holmes very close, destroyed Thomas who Holmes didn't fight and may of avoided. Plus Tyson actually unified the belts and cleaned up the division something i don't think Holmes did in the last 3 years of his reign.

But yeah i'd rate Tyson as the number 1 Heavyweight of the 80s.

 

80s belong to Tyson as champion. What Tyson did in the second half of the 80s will continue to impress boxing connoisseurs for a long time to come.
Prime Holmes never fought someone like 1988 Mike Tyson. Norton, Shavers and others are not at the level of 1988 Mike Tyson.
Peak Vs. peak also Tyson wins.

 

I rate Holmes over because I think that his style was all wrong for Tyson. In their 88 fight he was able to suffocate Tyson's offense and live for a couple rounds while being heavily out of training, and I believe that a prime 80s Holmes would've outworked him either to a clean decision or a late round knockout (If they were going 15, as Tyson would usually soften up past round 10).
If you need a comparison, you could call Holmes a better Douglas in this situation, and of course, Tyson a better Tyson in this situation.

 

I was bringing this up yesterday Holmes coming back to fight for the title twice really solidified Tysons win over him. Holmes has a better resume and his SOS is underrated but he struggled against a lot of the better fighters he fought and I find it hard to blame the Tyson loss on his age. Losing to Spinks in close fights which was Tysons easiest win is hard to get around H2H.

Holmes has a much better chance of winning a 15 rounder. In a 12 rounder someone making a comeback against Tyson really needed the knockout to win and they were less likely to get it in a 12 rounder. In a 15 rounder someone with cardio issues whose up 5-0 is in a very different situation than in a 12 rounder.

 

It’s Holmes on career accomplishments & 50-50 in a fight at their peaks.

 

First off, Holmes was 35 and had been on a drop since the Witherspoon fight, even if he was still winning, he was aging. You can make this same argument against Tyson if you wanna play dumb, "He got dominated by Lewis and he's heavily compared to Holmes, so this is really hard to get around head to head."
In addition to this, Holmes wouldn't need a 15 rounder to win out over Tyson. A post retirement Holmes was not only able to suffocate Tyson's offense multiple times, but also able to pull off a lesser version of his prime jab on Iron Mike, do you really think a prime Holmes wouldn't have been able to do that?

 

Holmes was great, but he was often hit. Shavers, Whitearspoon, Norton found their way to his jaw. Tyson would do it a few times too. I think Holmes could have won the rounds against Mike, even very clearly, but in the end he would have been hit and Tyson would have finished it. 9 out of 10 fights were Tyson by ko.

 

Looking strictly at what they did in the '80s it has to be Tyson.

 

Resume I might have Larry few spots up but h2h in their primes/peaks Tyson will be forever successfully built and tailor made for Holmes. I don't buy that a prime Holmes would have defeated him and the outcome of the fights will always be similar if not identical to what we got.

 

Holmes could be hit by big men with long arms and large slamming shots while caught off guard, and even then, if he was hurt, he recovered, if he was knocked down, he got up, and if he went lights out, he'd still somehow get up.
On top of this, all the men that hurt or dropped a prime Holmes were superior punchers to Tyson, you're comparing him against brutal punchers like Shavers, Witherspoon (Who he was out of prime when fighting), and Norton and really think that he'd be able to hurt Larry the same?
Shavers would hit you so hard his glove imploded, Witherspoon's can opener would turn guys' brains into a good meal, and Norton broke Ali's jaw. Mike cannot compare in this situation.

 

Well Tyson and Holmes did meet up in the 80s and we saw how that went. If this is about overall impact in the decade? Tyson from '86 onward pretty much brought HW boxing back to the mainstream from its post Ali lull.

 

Are you having a laugh mate?