How long could Holmes have stayed the HW champion had he beaten Spinks?

Holmes claimed he was only fighting for history. He was going to fight once after Spinks and retire 50-0

 

About a fortnight.

 

I think Larry might've beaten Tucker because Tucker fought at a lazy pace. He could've postponed fighting Thomas and then rematched Berbick after Thomas lost. It would then be a game of avoiding Tyson which would either end in him getting stripped of titles or knocked out by Tyson. Maybe he could've fought Damiani for the first WBO title fight, but he would've lost.

 

Spinks would of been Holmes 20th title defense. Many ppl overlook the fact that Marvis Frazier 10-0 was not ranked by the WBC in their top ten. So it was a non-title fight. Had Frazier won the title would of become vacant. The WBC then demanded Holmes fight their number one contender he declined was stripped- but then was awarded the newly formed IBF title.

 

Could he have kept ducking Thomas?

 

Till January 1988....

 

Not much longer. Perhaps maybe one or two more defenses, and even that would have depended on who he chose to fight and who he opted to steer clear of. There were many ( including myself ) who thought he lost to Carl Williams or at least should have been given a draw. There was talk about Tony Tubbs being his next opponent after Spinks. Had Holmes beaten him, it certainly would have been a good time to call it quits.

 

Spinks was already the least of the evils out there and Holmes would have had to fought a top guy. I think had it not been Spinks, it would have been someone else. Holmes would have had to fight a top guy.

 

Tony Tucker turned down a fight with Holmes in 1985.

 

not much longer - he was already on shaky ground picking spinks, who might not have been the best guy he could have faced.

You cant fight the best post 35 unless you are pyssing on the title by facing substandards.

 

Holmes was competitive well into the 90s, when he was a far, far lesser fighter than around the time of Spinks. Spinks is underated, imo. I doubt anyone around could have beaten Larry Holmes twice (even if there are some doubters that this actually happened).

I think that the Spinks, being a natural LH was actually a bad fight for an old Larry Holmes. In contrary to someone like say Foreman or Tyson who would benefit from fighting a light heavy as they aged, Holmes' strength was speed, chin and ring smarts possibly also stamina. Fighting a light heavyweight great as opposed to a Heavyweight contender means that while (in theory) you are getting a smaller hitting fighter with a less dangerous punch, you are also getting (in theory again) a faster, smarter, fitter fighter. Meaning that Holmes is giving away his advantages and relying on things he is not really known for (size, strength and power). Holmes never really needed these things before, so i dont see how an advantage in this area is much of an advantage when it means that he is giving away his natural strengths.

I think that Holmes would have been much better fighting someof the natural heavyweights out there. Saying that, maybe i overate spinks. I think that if HOlmes had retired, Spinks would have beaten the No 1 Heavyweight contender going around.

Incidentally, as for the original question. If HOlmes had of got the decision in Spinks, then theoretically he loses the rematch doesnt he? I think Spinks would probably win a third fight as well.

Outside of Spinks, I think that Holmes retains the title until retirement or Tyson. Still, it might be very interesting if Holmes decided to take on a pre Berbick Tyson. Holmes wasnt afraid to take them on before the were at their best. Tyson was Knocking them over, but surely he couldnt have been ready for Holmes 6 months earlier than Berbick, could he?

What is the consensus on such a fight?

 

I remember Holmes's whole sour gr@pes "marciano could not carry my thong" press conferance.. it's on YouTube, one thing he said that stands out was his saying he fought his last few fights dealing with some "conditions" that he "won't go into" that he felt most fighters couldn't deal with..or something. What did he mean? Was Holmes dealing with a mysterious illness??

@=a

 

He would have lost to Tyson whenever the fight happened, be it '86, '87 or '88. Buster Douglas or Tucker would have had a good shot also. A fading Holmes basically made Carl Williams a name fighter when he barely edged Carl in '85. Holmes wasn't getting any better after that fight.

 

If Holmes cherry picked after Spinks and picked fighters closer to his age I think he could have stayed champion for 1-2 more fights, but he was not beating a hungry Mike Tyson outside of his prime.

Would Holmes have retired if he broke Marciano's record? I say no. Holmes loved the money.