Joe Frazier 1971 vs Larry Holmes 1981

Frazier's pressure was one of the best of all time at heavyweight, but it was a pressure that was almost undoubtedly made to beat Ali considering his weakness to left hooks- Holmes is a different story.

Most compare the two since it's easy to, Larry was Ali's protege and constructed a pretty similar style to him, all things considered, but the difference when it comes to taking beatings lies in the hands. Ali was prone to dropping his right and getting hit with hard lefts, whereas Holmes was prone to dropping his left and getting hit by hard rights. The main reason that Ali is seen as the man with the better chin is that he was less prone to getting caught off guard and dropped, most fighters, especially those back then, were not likely to have hard lefts. Holmes was the exact opposite, as he had a glaring weakness that was much more exploitable against the common fighter, and so he seemed to be easier to drop.

Holmes can't FULLY avoid Frazier's onslaught, it's likely that no man could, but I don't think that Joe is gonna get through to Larry. It'll be a rough night for both men, but I think that with a hard left to the face, and a hard right to the body, Holmes will stay ahead.

 

I got Joe tbh

 

Joe Frazier could go at a faster pace in 71 then a 32 your old Ken Norton and Holmes squeezed by a past prime Norton !!! In 71 Frazier was at peak Joe Frazier beats on Holmes for 15 rds and wins Dec pretty easily !!!

 

I'm a Holmes fan but Frazier is all wrong for Holmes.

Frazier excelled vs boxers and he's an excellent body puncher with unlimited stamina.

Holmes was noticeably bothered by Norton, Witherspoon's body punching.

I think Holmes takes an early lead and is probably ahead on points after 8-10 rounds. Then Frazier starts to take over in the 2nd half of the fight and wins by late TKO.

The body punching would be the key here more so than the left hook which Holmes wasn't as vulnerable to as Ali was.

But on the flipside Ali took body shots better than probably any Heavyweight in history so that's his major advantage over Holmes.