Could Larry Holmes realistically beat Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott in the same night

Lesser as in their historical standing and H2H ability. Many would consider them as less formidable H2H than a prime Liston or Foreman.

 

Tyson only because he'd have a legit chance at a first round blow out win. Something like he did vs Spinks. A prime Tyson seems like he'd be instant death to any smaller fighter than himself, maybe with the exception of Joe Louis. And even then, that's very debatable.

Although I did post somewhere that for all the flack a prime Tyson gets for his resume in comparison to Ali's, a prime Tyson could Indeed beat many of a prime Ali's opponents back to back in one night. Also depending on which opponents you're talking about, I think Tyson could win some 2 on 1 fights as well.

But a prime Tyson is a special case

 

I know that they certainly weren't the equivalent of 5 Walcotts or 5 Charles

 

Nein.

 

I never said that I thought Holmes could beat both back to back in 1 night. What I said is that I can see him being favored on 2 separate occasions vs both of them. I.E. if he fought Charles in January as a title defense and then fought Walcott in March as his next title defense. And even then I qualified it by saying that both are good for upset wins and would likely put up stiff resistance, even in losing efforts.

I even said that I'd give them good chance to beat all of Holmes title defenses, including Norton and Spinks. Although I know Norton technically wasn't a title defense. Although I do believe Norton and Spinks probably would pose the greatest threats to Walcott or Charles out of all of prime/near prime Holmes opponents and both would have a solid chance to beat Walcott and Charles and could arguably be made the favorites over them.

 

I always wondered how raw physical strength correlates to punching power? I know it's not a perfect correlation, otherwise strongmen and power lifters would be the hardest punchers around. On the other hand, I know there is some since universally a healthy adult man almost always hits harder than a healthy adult woman even when controlling for weight and technique. There really is no female equivalent of George Foreman or Tommy Hearns.

Also why can some fighters translate their physical strength into extreme punching power while others can't? Hagler and Foreman come to mind. On the other hand fighters like Lamotta and Holyfield, while being able to hit hard enough to earn the respect and eventually stop anyone in their weight class never seemed to be able to translate their bull like physical strength into that devastating punching power.

Then you have guys like Bob Foster or Sugar Ray Robinson who were never really considered just physical power houses, but could quickly separate you from your senses.

 

Whilst Holmes is a great fighter, who I have respect for, I don't see him beating these two on the same night. Charles and Walcott, on their best day would give most top heavy s a hard time. By the time Holmes had been in with one he d be ripe for a loss to the other imo.

 

Yes, but they were usually nowhere near world class.

Let me get back to you on that.

 

What if it was like bear baiting? You take a 4 foot rope and tie holmes to a stake driven into the center of the ring. Then you release Walcott and Charles on him simultaneously?

What if you have Foreman in a ring containing 30 flyweights and see how many he can KO in 45 seconds?

 

On September 3 1881, Sullivan fought Jack Burns under Queensbury rules. Burns (known as the Michigan Giant) seems to have been a fairly well regarded bare knuckle boxer. He was fighting to win the $100 prize that Sullivan had offered for anybody who could last four rounds against him. It seems that many expected him to be successful, because he was much bigger and more experienced than Sullivan (the local papers said 6' 3'' and 215 lbs). Sullivan knocked Burns out in the first round, though the local papers disagree as to whether it lasted one minute or two.

Because of the bout's short duration, and to give the fans their moneys worth, Sullivan agreed to box four rounds against Captain James Dalton (who he had fought the previous August). Dalton was regarded as being one of the best gloved boxers in the country, but the bout seems to have been a boxing exhibition, with neither fighter trying for a knockout.

 

The closest I can come to that is outside of boxing where cage fighters had a series of fights during a single night to determins a champion. My favourite series was when my man Igor Vovachanchyn (5'7 207lb) took on Fred Floyd (6'4 380lb), Paul Varelans (6'8 300lb) and John Dixson (6'0 275lb) and beat the dog**** out of them in one night.

 

On the same night? Certainly not