Holmes or Lewis?

Wod-meister!

Agreed we don't know for sure, but in a court of law a 'reasonable man' could be forgiven for saying that an AIDS patient and a man coming off two consecutive losses are not necessarily prime.

I put it to you that '78 Norton is better than anyone Lewis faced, and the 2 versions of Shavers Holmes faced is a harder hitter than any man Lewis faced.

 

lewis

 

Interested to hear which version of which man Lewis faced, who you feel was capable of 15 fast paced rounds, showing the level of offensive and defensive skill Norton showed in '78?

 

At this point we have to agree to disagree. Holyfield had stamina problems throughout his career, and they worsened as he got older.

When Holyfield was prime and Holmes ancient, Holmes was able to confuse him.

A prime Holmes would have whitewashed him.

 

He'd have ducked them anyway.

 

King seemed to have no objections in allowing Tyson to unify. Funny that Larry lambasted Don and said he didn't want anything to do with King (when all's Don asked would he finally fight his mandatory). Yet after Page was fighting for another belt, Larry agreed to fight for King in his bouts with Smith and Bey.

 

People chuckle, but Page really was the one guy Holmes was a bit leery of, more from knowing he was getting a bit over the hill and that Page was one guy who could really rise on the rare occasion. Page also hated him so just might have come in 100% focused. Larry HATED the thought of possibly losing the the at the time supposed heir apparent and appeasing his many critics and detractors. He especially hated the thought as he had got $10 000 against Cooney and was getting far less vs Page. Holmes knew Page would be far tougher at that stage if he came in firing, and he really did look to have turned the corner vs Snipes. Great shape, perfect tactics and good focus against an awkward foe. Of course he had also already told Witherspoon he wasn't getting no rematch, so it's not as if Page was alone. As he publically stated, he wanted to cruise to retirement and would fight easier foes as he thought he had earnt that distinction.

 

Tyson was a huge draw though. He could make just as much money with having Tyson as he could with all of the other guys as champ. The fact of it is, Tyson was one of the, if not the most exciting fighter of all time. Even non-boxing fans would watch him fight just because he was so exciting.

Do you blame Larry for refusing to deal with King when King threatened to have Larry's legs broken? Or how about being cheated out of your money for the past 7-8 years? If Larry went along with King eventually he'd have been screwed over as Tyson.

 

Larry was a buisness man. He got 5 mill for fighting Frazier and Frank, when he would have gotten around 3.8 mill for Page. If you are looking to make money, not legacy, what would you do? Also, I think we all know people would still **** and moan about Larry's comp even if he did fight and beat Page, Thomas, Coetzee, and Dokes.