Battle of the Jockstrap...

Holmes jabs Marcianos face till it looks like a Pizza...

 

I am surprised by the number of people picking Holmes here.

Personaly I dont think that Holmes was either mobile enough to stay out of Marcianos way or equiped with the tools to go toe to toe with him.

Something would have to give somewhere and it would probably be Holmes.

 

Holmes has some success with his jab in the first round untill Marciano winds his way inside it and starts tenderising Holmse's body like a swiss steak.

Holmes had better have a plan B at this point or he is screwed.

 

:huh

 

Holmes was no Clay but he was known for having pretty fast feet, at his peak.

 

Against both Snipes and Carl Williams, he very definitely showed his adaptability to unexpectedly demanding situations. When he found himself with a surprisingly stiff challenge against Weaver, he set Mike up brilliantly for his right uppercut. No HW Champ made mid-round adjustments better at their peak than Larry did. Shavers and Cooney both attempted a dedicated body attack against Holmes, and both were beaten handily. Rocky didn't have the reach of either.

 

I dont doubt that Holmes was adaptable but his adaptability will be tested big time here.

Unless you have the firepower to take Marciano out in the early rounds there are only two ways to survive against him. You either run away from him backwards for the entire fight or you employ every part of your body defensively. Even then the chances are that something will give. Holmes did not particularly fight to either patern.

Unless Holmes can fight on the back foot Marciano will quickly bring the fight onto the inside where Holmes cannot use his jab. After that it is going to be trench warfare.

 

Forgett the jab.

Unless Holmes uses it on the back foot it is going to get taken out of the equation prety quickly.

 

If a 38 year old Walcott can drop Rocky and be leading on the scorecards ,going into the 13th rd ,Holmes would have enough rounds in the bag to take a decision here,Larry could go 15 and proved it,he was better than Walcott and Charles at Heavy ,bigger ,faster and certainly more durable,the story of this fight is two words Left Jab.Rocky might have moments of success ,Holmes could be caught with rights ,Rockys best punch ,but Holmes had a great uppercut,a potent weapon against a croucher.
This would be new territory for Marciano facing a 6 3 212 heavy in his prime,with great skills,Holmes might even stop Rocky on cuts.

 

So what is considered by the majority to be the best jab in Heavyweight history, by many the best in P4P boxing history is going to be taken out of the equation just like that? You often bemoan people not giving old timers enough credit and tell us how great they were in every respect yet throw the Holmes jab completely out the window. You should read some of what you write now and then mate.

 

Anyone thinking Holmes jab is going to taken totally out of the equation is on some damn good stuff.

 

Holmes always had a plan B. If Rocky got sloppy on the inside, Holmes had a very good upper cut.

 

Holmes aint using the jab once Marciano is inside which is where this matter is going to be decided.