Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis

He doesn't. He doesn't throw powerful 5-6 punch combinations like Louis or Tyson. He is fast but doesn't have Ali's lightning speed. Watch some of the combos Ali landed on Liston and Foreman - Holmes never threw combos like that.

He does not have Lewis's straight right or powerful uppercut. He certainly doesn't hit like Foreman or Liston. Does he have Frazier's left hook? I just don't see the major weapons and i have the guy at #3 on my all time list. But i have him so high because of his consistency and also because a number of more talented heavyweights underachieved.

 

Holmes didn't throw combinations like Ali because he had a completely different style and longer arms, he threw more straights, and the only punch that he really threw similar to Ali, other than his jab, was his rear uppercut. If nothing else, you have to at least mention his cross, his jab wouldn't be as great as it was without his follow-up(s). His cross, his uppercuts, he even got a lot of mileage out of his hooks. He doesn't have 44 KOs for no reason.
The main reason that I think Larry isn't revered for his power was that he didn't use it or pressure like he could've in most cases. He only knocked out fighters early when he had something to prove or was trying to get back at somebody for something they did to him (Marvis Frazier, Leon Spinks).
We all know that Larry could tend to coast and take it easy, especially when he started to decline before his comeback, so why don't people apply it here?

 

The omission of context is borderline dishonest. Tyson was shot against Lewis and didn’t even bother coming in fighting weight. Larry was fighting against a prime Tyson while past his best.

Holmes was out of the ring for two years and zero tune up fights prior to his match with Tyson. The ring rust alone should explain his performance. Lewis got knocked out twice by mediocre contenders and the most you could say in defence of him is he didn’t take the fights seriously.

 

Ray mercer? Frank bruno? Shannon Briggs? Old Larry soundly outboxed mercer while Lewis had a close fight that could’ve went the other way.

 

I look at the ATG list like this - the ATG list is CONSTANT, it is variable, and changes over time.
Let me give an example:
You can't judge Wlad in ATG terms right after the loss to AJ.
It takes some time for other ATG candidate boxers to show their strengths and weaknesses; as well as for Wlad's evaluators to better assess Wlad's strengths and weaknesses.
To get a better overview of the whole situation (big picture).
It is necessary to evaluate the ATG boxer through the prism of time.
In that sense, I think Lewis will eventually overtake Holmes on the ATG list.
IMHO.

 

Both are equally great , my preference to watch would be Holmes.

 

A few posters in here are saying Lewis lost twice in his prime.

Let’s make one thing abundantly clear. Lewis was not in his prime for the McCall defeat in 1994. And not even a maybe, either. His balance was all over the place, he loaded up and telegraphed his right hand, threw mainly long punches and lacked short, compact combinations. You could also say he lacked the mentality that came thereafter.

Technically he was miles away from the fighter he became under Emanuel Steward. Miles away. He was nowhere as complete, nor as effective.

I actually think it’s pretty much non-debatable.

 

Holmes behind Louis and Ali

 

He never had much of a left hook but his right was faster and more accurate than Lewis' though not as powerful.'Larry's right uppercut was terrific.

 

I think they meant physical prime.

He was not the same guy that he became under Steward but he was not a spring chicken either. He had 25 pro fights including 3-4 wins over top 10 ranked heavyweights + 2 olympics + a long amateur career.

 

Only the Mercer fight applies and Lewis still clearly won that imo while I had Holmes losing Witherspoon fight.

 

Holmes made beating Mercer look easy. Lewis had a real difficult time of it. That's at least one common opponent where Holmes looked better.

 

The Mercer Lewis fought was much better then the one Holmes fought. Also if you want to compare common opponents Lewis beat both Holyfield and Tyson while Holmes lost to both so not really much of an argument.

 

He was NOT IN HIS PRIME.

Not even remotely close to his best when he was KO’d by McCall, pre-Steward. Even the fights prior to the McCall loss back this up.

A fighter’s prime is what it says on the tin—the best span of his career.