An Era Where Holmes DOESN'T Get To 48 -0?

He gets brought up in regards to Holmes because he was a mandatory and Holmes dropped his title not to face him. He's exhibit A of Larry shutting up shop as he neared retirement. He wanted that 50-0 and was determined to get it.

Page would have no trouble making it thru a sparring camp. Larry had trouble at times with lesser fighters. He was a very legitimate challenger at the time they were supposed to fight.

He ended up a disappointment for sure. Most of the era did. He had his moments tho and bested Snipes quite convincingly moving into the Holmes fight.

I would agree he never developed his skills after a certain point and have said exactly this in here multiple times. He if anything regressed as a fighter as time went on due to a few factors. This is beside the overall point tho of course.

This was what happened behind the scenes and was well documented in magazines of the time.

Holmes was the best of his era for sure, by a long shot. Nobody would dispute that. He was extremely determined and professional in an era mostly lacking it. He was also a great fighter obviously.

Ideally Holmes could have retired earlier for sure. Post Witherspoon or Cobb would have been ideal i think. Lets be honest tho - almost all of them make the same mistake unfortunately. Ali, Holmes, Louis, Holyfield, Tyson etc. If you remember Larry said multiple times he was getting out of the game at the right time and referenced Ali and how he would never end up like him. The bad news is he didn't get out but the great news is it didn't do him any harm by the looks of it. He actually aged well in the ring and was never truly "shot" even at those late points. Probably a good sign. He ended up getting that Marciano record in his head and it would have been fascinating to see if he could have stayed retired if he got that 50-0. He was definitely going to retire after it. Would he have still came out of retirement if he nipped that record? Hard to say for me.

I don't overly rate Spinks at Heavyweight but it would have been nice to see him take on a solid contender or two to see exactly what he brought to the table. Besides being declined it was obvious Holmes took him too lightly in the first encounter as evidenced by the second i think. He was also hurt multiple times by Holmes, a good not great puncher and one who was having trouble finding a home for the right hand due to age. I think he would have been one good solid punch away from big trouble against other younger fresher fighters. He only came on in the rematch when he knew Holmes sting had lessened after some rounds. The Holmes from 2 years earlier would have beaten him handily let alone peak Holmes.

Of his era? No-one could begin to argue against that. If talking heavyweight history that would be another matter.

 

I respect your post. I dont agree on all points but it's very well written

 

Ditto mate. All good. That's what we are here for.

 

This sums things up very nicely imo, and I agree with most everything here. The time periods he would have the best chances are Louis to Liston and post Lewis. Him doing it in the other era's, I would bet against it personally.