Getting off the floor to win....lets get the perspective

What about Danny Lopez? Coming off the canvass to win BIG was just another day at the office for "Little Red." Thoughts?

Boo

 

Archie Moore-Yvonne Durelle I was one of the best examples of a fighter getting off the floor to win. Durelle almost had Moore out of there in the 4th round, and again almost had him in the 4th or 5th round. But Moore survived, recovered, and was able to turn the tide of the fight in the middle rounds, slowly breaking Durelle down over the next few rounds and finishing him in the 11th. One of the greatest comeback wins in boxing.

 

Nice sum-up.

 

It's a nice plus...but alot of the champions that made a living rising off the canvas were just easy guys to knock down.

There's a difference between catching an asswhipping, going down, and getting back up and just going hitting the canvas left and right. The latter is an instance where it's better to not go down in the first place!

 

Now that my computer is letting me post again, I can reply that Larry had indeed gotten careless at the time Earnie dropped him.

Holmes had momentary lapses of concentration in his first bout with Shavers, simply by virtue of being human. But in winning 34 out of 36 minutes, those few lapses were far more apparent than what is normally obvious with most competitors. (Years later, when Larry faced Tyson, Mike Spinks famously saw his focus collapse from ringside several seconds before the first knockdown, and yelled at Holmes, "What are you doing? Concentrate!")

Larry was obviously mindful of the tremendous confidence Shavers was bringing to their rematch off his destruction of Norton, a measure of self-assurance Earnie was somewhat lacking in during their first meeting, and prepared accordingly, training himself down to 209. But after six rounds of the rematch, Holmes/Shavers II had become a replay of Holmes/Shavers I. The deduction I made was that Larry got cocky, completely forgetting about what Earnie did to Norton. The first right hand bomb Shavers resultantly caught him in round seven was with Holmes leaning back against the ropes. Larry, facing the camera, did not buckle from it, but Cosell made note of it connecting, and Holmes must have been somewhat buzzed from it. They were on the opposite side of the ring when Larry fall and go BOOM!

If Holmes had not been in what was possibly the best physical condition of his career, his carelessness in opening himself up to be hit by Earnie would have resulted in the crowning of perhaps the most one-dimensional HW champion in history. (At least the youthful Foreman had a jab. Aside from the first bout Shavers had with Henry Clark, when he closed Clark's eye with it in winning a decision, the jab was never a significant tool in his arsenal, a rather foolish developmental oversight, considering Earnie's long arms and 80 inch reach. Frank Luca had a close, fraternal relationship with Shavers, but I have doubts about his qualities as a trainer.) Fortunately for Larry, he did not lose his title in the ring that night, because he won it with his dedicated and focused training beforehand. His seventh round underestimation of Shavers was overcome by his training camp overestimation of Earnie following the Norton blow-out. Sporting events are won and lost on such preparation.