Larry Holmes calls Fury & aj amateurs

Old Larry Holmes had the unfortunate task of getting caught in between two of the greatest HW eras and often gets forgotten.. Had to follow Ali/Frazier/Foreman/Norton (Yes he beat a well past it Ali and Norton) and was past it during Tyson/Holyfield/Lewis/Bowe era.. He’s been a bitter man since and it annoys him that the guys in the Fury/Joshua/Wilder era gets a lot of attention.. Take his words with a grain of salt

 

Yes I love that Fury quote that no man born of a woman can beat the Gypsy King etc but don’t forget he never met Big Larree.

 

If I remember correctly David Price beat Tyson Fury in the amateurs.

 

His jab was technically excellent but often poorly implemented tactically. I'd say there are a number of candidates for that title depending on what you like.

More damning for me is how often Holmes gave up ground, as well as his poor performance against the taller Carl Williams. Whatever he was doing with his jab it wouldn't necessarily deter Fury from implementing his gameplan.

I've never said this generation is more talented that the 80s and 90s. I think the 90s is probably the strongest HW division we've seen thus far, and many of the 80s lot were technically sound but seemed to lack something.

I agree wth your assessment. Tim was a quality brawler who wasn't the best at any one thing, but tended to put it all together well. I don't think he's doing anything out of this world that today's fighters aren't doing, but he's a good model for anyone who might lack a little in the speed department but has the size and toughness to hang with the big boys.

 

Seems you actually agree with me on quite a bit so I will point out that against Carl the Truth Williams Big Larry has visibly started his decline not that Williams was that bad actually but because Iron Mike iced him in one before the Buster Douglas fight people think he was not that good. Tim was a quality operator and I think someone with his skills and knowledge as a trainer can develop these guys with his old school know how. Another former champion who could teach modern fighters things is someone like Marlon Starling.

 

Getting bitter? Larry’s always been bitter and will be bitter even in the afterlife.... he’ll probably complain that Ali has better wings or something.

 

It would appear that a Scouser born of a woman has beaten the a Gypsy King!

 

We don't know that for sure. Price might have been a C-section. Given his size, it is even probable.

 

How would he beat Fury? Fury is like 55 lbs heavier, 6 inches taller, fast, more power than Holmes, Stronger than Holmes, every punch he hit Holmes with would snap his head, how would he even get near Fury and if he somehow did, Fury would just tie him up, lean on him, ragdoll him around like a child, if you shrunk Fury down to 6'3 215lbs then I don't know who I'd put my money on, but he is 6'9 and 273 lbs with the speed and mobility of a welterweight and power of a heavyweight, Holmes would just end up looking to survive, Holmes is an ATG, but he was good in his era in the 70s

 

Okay I stand corrected lol.

 

That wasn't the only time Holmes struggled to establish his jab though, and while Williams wasn't a bad fighter there was no way he should have been able to outbox Holmes like that if Holmes was truly as good with his jab as you seem to think. Same with Witherspoon, which was several years earlier. At some point you need to reappraise your initial thoughts on a fighter if the evidence begins to stack up too greatly in the other direction.

If I were rating jabs on how well they were thrown Holmes would be near the top. He always got great snap on them, good range, and was able to throw them consistently throughout a fight. But I have to mark him down on his lack of tactical and strategic prowess compared to someone like Wlad or even Foreman who were able to employ their jab to utterly control and dominate their opponents. Holmes let fights get out of his control too often for me to rate him highly in those categories.

 

I think most good analysts and judges will fundamentally disagree with you on this. I know I do but to each their own.

 

Holmes is unpopular because he hid in the IBF for a payoff, fought a clearly ill and done Ali and was generally an *******. Larry was billed as the next Ali and he did a pretty good impersonation but he never reached that goal. He had one of the best jabs in boxing but was far from unbeatable. and he found out against Spinks that when you put down boxing in general and Marciano in specific you shouldn't count on any close decisions.