George Foreman vs Larry Holmes

Larry holmes gets knocked down in middle rounds but uses jab to out point george in a decision

 

No way Big George makes it 15 rounds...

 

The Foreman of the Frazier an Norton fights was a ****ing animal.

The thought that Holmes just turns up and one-twos him to death is ridiculous to me. Foreman was aggressive and adept at picking off punches when he kept his head (unlike against Ali) and was very good at cutting off the ring against guys trying to keep it at a distance.

George hit hard yes but he was also enormously strong and rough and Larry wont be able to tangle him up in his long arms like he successfully did against Snipes and Shavers when hurt, George'll just shove him off ( illegally if he has to) and keep battering at him.

Holmes could win if he takes him late as prime Foreman' power seemed to drop off late but he will have to survive Foremans' early onslaught and I'm not convinced anyone not called Muhummad Ali does that (and peak Foreman wasn't the doofus who lobbed up and tried to outbox Jimmy Young but the brute who destroyed top flighters in Frazier and Norton). Larry has a huge heart and great survival instincts but against an overwhelming pysical presence like George I'm not sure that's enough.

I'll go against the popular opinion and pick George here.

 

I know I'm like a broken record with this...but I'm confused why in like 75% of fantasy match ups, it's predicted Holmes will go down, despite only being in down in 4 out of 75 fights in his actual career.

People reference the Snipes and Shavers fights as evidence that Larry could be caught, but notice he was only really caught because he was dominating every round prior and even after the knockdowns. He become content and careless and got caught with hail mary right hands that'd have dropped anyone. In the case against Snipes, Larry got up and continued to win the round, even teeing off on Snipes later in the round. Against Shavers he made it through the round and came out and won the rest of the rounds like he had done every round prior to the knockdown.

Against other big punchers inwhich Holmes was not easily winning every round such as Weaver, Smith, McCall, and Cooney, Holmes did not get caught with some huge hail mary right hand that people seem to predict so oftenly and he did not go down in those fights.

Against Foreman, I think we can all agree Larry wouldn't be easily dominating the fight like he did against Snipes and Shavers. Holmes would be on his A game throughout (especially given how badly Holmes wanted to fight Foreman) and would not be careless enough to get caught by something stupid.

I'd favor Holmes to win a 10-5 type decision over a prime Foreman, with the first 5-6 rounds being close and hard fought, but with Holmes taking over in the middle rounds enroute to a clear decision. No knockdowns.

 

Probably something like this:

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I think this is a misconception. Why would you single out those fights? My point is that George Foreman was an animal his entire career {talking about 70s}

I think that Frazier and Norton were great fighters but they both had styles that were made to order for George Foreman. Both crouched and neither had a reversre gear. George was able to tee off with those uppercuts against Kenny and Joe. That was Big George`s Wheelhouse those devastating uppercuts.

Standup boxers like an Ali or a Young are a different challenge all together. Holmes fits into that category and that is why Its a tougher matchup for George Foreman.

You made some good points about Foreman`s physical strength and finishing ability. I dont discount Big George`s chances but styles do make fights.

 

Good point Larry Holmes just fell asleep at times. He was in functional control of those fights. The one exception would probably be the Witherspoon fight but he was past it by then.