I read that Holmes made a remark about Ali being old and "his legs gone". Ali heard about it and when he sparred Holmes treated him pretty roughly while saying "legs are gone, huh" or "too old"? Did this happen or is this one of those tales from the gym? Also I read that McClellan dropped Michael Moorer in sparring.
Yes I've heard this related quite a few times. It apparently occured near the end of Larry's employment by Muhammad as a sparring partner. Circa 1974/75. Never heard about McClellan downing Moorer. Must have been some shot !
From what I have seen, Ali was usually the one getting beat up in sparring. I've also hear that G-Man gave Michael Moorer the business in sparring in their Kronk days.
Moorer and G-Man were two surly MF'ers. Doesn't surprise me that they went hammer and tong in sparring. Also have heard that Gerald took his share of damage in sparring.
McClellan had a good chin so it wouldn't surprise me to hear him standing up to Moorer's shots in sparring but ultimately all the hard punches taken in sparring wars and those in actual fights (like those he took against Julian Jackson) will take their toil. His fight against Nigel Benn may well have been where all those hard shots taken finally caught up with him.
