Was Holmes' style an improved version of Robinson's? Rewatching videos of the two I noticed a lot of punches thrown with the same angles plus Holmes had a better jab than Robinson.
They were nothing alike. Robinson had a very prominent left hook as well and one of the greatest blends of power and speed P4P in history. He was much more of a puncher and he knew he could take guys out. He often let both hands fly in combination where as Holmes was more built around a jab and jab cross guy. It's very hard to compare heavyweights to lighter weights. Some are friendlier comparisons than others i.e. Louis/Arguello but it's rare for them to mesh very well. Such a different game.
No, Robinson was a very well rounded boxer. He could slug, pressure, counter, dance, or box at mid range. He has power in both hands and could throw vicious combinations to the head and body. If push came to shove he could simply outbox you with his excellent fundamentals and technique. Holmes really only had 2 dimensions to his game which was stick and move on the outside with his great jab, or box you from mid range at a fairly easy going pace. He made up for it with his ring IQ and tenacity. Holmes lacked raw power and other than his jab and good reflexes/head movement, he wasn't particularly quick or explosive. This meant that if he couldn't knock you out and you could match him in technique, he often struggled to win convincingly on the scorecards. Robinson could adapt and had many more option if things weren't going his way.
Remember Larry Holmes for a short period had the services of Ray Arcel, who I am sure taught Larry a few tricks as Arcel worked in the corner of various fighters from boxings golden era, recently Roberto Duran. Also remember Holmes was a pupil of Muhammad Ali, Angelo Dundee must have added some ingredients to the style of Larry Holmes. Also Larry was a sparring partner of Smoking Joe Frazier, there might be some added Eddie Futch in there.
Futch actually trained or co-trained Holmes in numerous fights Rich. He stepped away from Holmes - Spinks as it was a conflict of interest. Early on he fixed a technical flaw in Holmes right hand too.
No trouble mate. I could be wrong but i think he first came in for the Berbick bout and stayed right through to being unavailable the Spinks fight.
