He seemed like his head wasn't in the ring for the first half of the fight. It was like the prelude to his spectacle against Lewis in the rematch, lol.
He had sparring partner syndrome for almost every fight he took as a pro, the only one I'd say he really tried from the start in was Lewis I.
Two Holmes fights you should watch are.... Larry Holmes vs Jesse Ferguson = Holmes almost stopped in the 2nd round Ferguson run him pretty close. Larry Holmes vs Quinn Navarre = Multiple knockdowns another close fight. Two Holmes fights that aren't ever mentioned but they were very close fights.
McCall hurt Larry in the 9th (iirc) and kind of backed him down a bit for the rest. Before that Larry was looking pretty damn good. I had it one point for Oliver.
I haven't seen this fight since when it first aired. My memory of it is that Holmes got another chance at the title, this time against someone he had a very good chance of beating, and didn't put any effort into it and lost again. I recall a boring, lousy fight and that McCall did win it. I'd have to view it again.
1. 10-9 Holmes 2. 10-9 Holmes 3. 10-9 McCall 4. 10-9 McCall 5. 10-9 Holmes 6. 10-9 McCall 7. 10-9 McCall 8. 10-9 Holmes 9. 10-9 McCall 10. 10-9 Holmes 11. 10-9 McCall 12. 10-9 McCall 115-113 McCall. Competitive but I think he won.
McCall did not clearly take ALL the late rounds. I gave Larry round 10, as did all three official judges.
I had it 115-113 MCCall at the time, and havent watched it since. I learned from Joe Cortez on a KO Magazine interview once: if its a one point (or in this case 2) in your card for the one who was given the L, dont sweat it out. No way does a prime McCall beat a prime Larry Holmes. McCall beat a very, very good but not yet prime Lennox Lewis. Now, I dont want to say a prime Lewis did not have a chance at Holmes but Llarry Holmes at his prime was a class above the 1994 version of Lennox Lewis.
Money talks...and it was still an intriguing match up. Foreman with one punch could destroy the Golden Gate bridge,