From a 1-10 scale what you rate holmes in the Tyson fight?

He didnt look any younger against Ray Mercer and Evander Holyfield

 

Obviously. He was older.

 

Both certainly have personal agendas against Mike Tyson but nothing like Atlas.
Sugar is probably the worst boxing personality that boxing has.

Atlas has good reasons to dislike Tyson. Tyson got him fired. Tyson refused to comply with Atlas wishes and Tyson supposedly assaulted someone in his family. Tyson also prevented him from finishing the job and reaping the rewards that Atlas had invested in with the young amatuer Tyson. Rooney, although he squandered it all, made millions off of Tyson.

If anyone knows or has been around Teddy Atlas, hes a control freak, and hes a firey guy who will blow off at the smallest things that set him off. I really dont know how him and Michael Moorer ever lasted as long as they did, because Moorer is as nuts as Atlas is.

 

...and supposedly better.

 

:good


I should also say that most people tend to look at the 21 month layoff that included an exhibition fight and preparation for more than 4 months and say Larry Holmes was too old and too rusty and claim that 4 years later that he was sharp and prepared despite being in the ring with nothing but tomato cans and being 4 years older. Tyson would have always beaten him and it had nothing to do with age either.

4 years later Holmes shut out of Ray Mercer and spirited effort against Evander Holyfield only shows what is clear; Holmes has the style to compete and IMO beat Evander Holyfield but his age and endurance at that stage slowed him down enough that his guile and savvy was enough to limited fighters like Mercer but insufficient for fighter's of Holyfield's caliber.

 

he was around a 5 maybe even 6 or 7 for some but i would say a 5 as of the simple reason that his reflexes wasnt what they use to be, his reaction time was slower than in his prime and he wasnt one of those fighters who got better with age like Bhop and he had a bit of a layoff from the sport before the fight with Mike.

 

People seem to think that the Holmes that fought those guys was FAR better because he was more active. You take bigger leaps backwards as you progress at that age.

I thought Larry fought fairly well in the Tyson fight. He was moving well, his jab was working, he sat down and slugged a little in spots. That was pretty typical of fighters who showed Tyson movement, most of them were forced by the pressure and Tyson's ability to cut the ring off, to have to fight more. That being said, Tyson landed a hell of a righthand on Holmes and hurt him badly and closed the show, but I wouldnt deny its conceiveable that Holmes could have gone deeper in a fight with Tyson had they fought again years later but would have lost.

 

Better fights style wise though IMO. Holyfield was always sort of inconsistent as a heavyweight and Mercer- meh- Mercer wasn't anything special.

Holmes fought Tyson when Tyson was at his absolute peak. Holmes on the other hand was coming off of two losses.

 

Well losses that many thought he won, especially the second fight. Your first point is correct though and really makes my point. Holmes could look better against guys like Mercer and Holyfield because of their styles. Tyson was a murderous punching pressure fighter with a ton of speed, which was never going to be good for an older Holmes or any older fighter for that matter.

 

He was still inactive, and he was a little off, but he did train for Tyson, so that excuse doesn't hold as much water as many think.

He was, however, old. No two ways around it, and he'd been aging as a fighter for long before his spell off.


A 6 or a 7. Tyson deserves more credit for that win than some give him, but some people are giving him too much.

 

I don't think many people think that.

Holmes having that many tune-ups was a smart thing to do though. But truth is, Ray Mercer was just a bit crap, and Holyfield didn't put on a vintage performance and never would look good against Holmes' style (but still Holyfield won handily, IMO).

Holmes was about 4 or 5 on a scale of 10 (10 being prime) against Tyson, IMO.
He was about a 3 or 4 against Mercer and Holyfield.

Holmes was a clever fighter. He avoided some of Tyson's heavy artillery for 3 rounds. But apart from that he didn't do ****.
He was an old 38 year-old has-been. The fight ended up as expected.

 

The fight should n't have been allowed. Nobody who's been off two years should be permitted to have a title shot without a warm up fight. Holmes knew he should n't have been in there. Walking to the ring,he looked like he was approaching the gallows.

 

True.
He even said in his autobiography how he wanted to call the fight off when he was in the dressing room.

 

Tell that to Floyd Mayweather. Thats just it, and apparently you failed to read my prior posts. If you factor in the 15 round exhibition he fought and the time Holmes actually spent in training, it wasnt even close to being two years off. Holmes would have felt the same way if it was five years earlier, Tyson was doing a number on everyone.

 

Yeah right Unforgiven, everyone expected Tyson to knock Holmes out in four rounds. It was never done before or after again.