Yep, who knows how things could have turned out if Lewis had faced Tyson a lot earlier on and perhaps Holyfield, and also maybe got to Bowe. But he got there in the end, picked up all the major belts, beat Holyfield and Tyson and avenged those kos. And head to head, Lewis is one of a very few I'd have beating prime Larry.. Maybe.
Yeah he went down as the “last man standing”. Something similar was said about Archie Moore. It was was always known that for most of his career Archie had been a talented fighter among other talented fighters, but he just outlasted everyone. Lewis is the same. They got there in the end.
As a rule, I don't make p4p lists. And I didn't for years until Rummy did that great set of lists a few months back. However I rank Larry Holmes as the 2nd greatest heavyweight ever and stand by that.
I always was a Holmes believer and fan. Larry had chip on his shoulder. He was shunned for beating Ali and that jock strap comment, but in the ring, you'd be hard pressed to find a more skilled and tougher champion. And yes, he won the re-match vs Spinks. His status has come a long way since the internet arrived.
I followed his story, Lewis that is, all the way. It was twist and turns, ups and downs. At times I underrated him I'll be honest and a few fights I felt like he needed a boot up his ass but lookin back now, he did bloody good.
All true. Regardless of his chip on the shoulder and jockstrap comment, in the ring, Larry is hard to fault. He really brought a lot to the table. Good over 15 rounds. Got off the floor to win. Good placer of punches. Great chin. Longevity.
It was very disappointing to Larry's fans that he lost to Spinks. However, Michael Spinks at the time was pretty highly esteemed by me as a light-heavy. I just hated the way he won that fight. At times he looked really clowny but hey, he knew giving Larry different faces throughout the fight would win it, and he did. I had Spinks losing by 4 points in the rematch, and Holmes got robbed pretty bad imo. I remember the concensus after the first Spinks fight was Larry was an All Time Great, without question top 10 material, but he had to avenge the loss to Spinks and probably retire. Well, to fans like me Larry DID avenge the Spinks loss, and he was a two-time champion. Spinks was hurt several times in the fight, bad in the last rounds, and Holmes never got hurt even once.
Wannbe Ali. He thought he could inherit that mantle and be as popular, but he didnt have the personality. Great fighter though, always gave it his best.
Many people in boxing (Trainers, managers, promoters etc) simply didn’t like Larry so they rooted against him. It wasn’t because they didn’t think he could fight or had no skills it was because they hated Larry’s personality and attitude. Holmes was a bitter guy having to follow a legend like Ali. He lived in the shadows of Ali and Larry resented this for his whole title reign. If you want to see some hilarious stuff go back and look at old magazine and newspaper articles from around the time of the Holmes vs Cooney fight. You had tons of educated boxing writers and boxing people like trainers and cut men picking Cooney. It was all because those people hated Holmes. I read an article from the time where Cus D’Amato who knew boxing as much as anybody said Mike Weaver was a tougher fight for Cooney than Holmes so he agreed with Cooney fighting Holmes instead of Weaver It was pure lunacy. A better example of this is the William Nack Sports Illustrated article before the fight where he asks many boxing lifers about the fight and nearly all of them picked Cooney to win. It wasn’t because these people thought Larry was a bum and Cooney was legit it’s because they all disliked Holmes personally
The SI pick of Cooney by round 3 seemed pretty hilarious even before the fight. None of my boxing friends thought Cooney had a chance, and to be blunt we all thought Larry made a tactical error not finishing him off in the 2nd round. The Holmes of two years before would have ended it.