Larry Holmes decision to fight Mike Tyson.

Holmes looked really scared before his bout with Tyson according to his then trainer, he had never seen that look on Larry`s face before.

 

Right. Holmes was out of shape and out of the ring for a while, and happened to catch Tyson on one of his sharpest nights.

You can see some things the older Holmes did that would have worked well if he was 6-8 years younger vs Tyson.

 

I was replying to some guy who countered my argument that Holmes was paid more for his fight with Tyson than for his previous bouts and the reason I thought that was his reaction to King offering him a purse that was considered a lot back then, maybe I was wrong, but it`s clear from this interview that he came back for the money, that`s why I posted this vid.

 

Agree - Holmes had a well deserved rep for being impossible to intimidate; that being said, look at his face when he enters the ring against Tyson. For whatever reason - lack of prep, or the brutal aura that surrounded Mike Tyson in 1988 - he did NOT want to be there. Once he started fighting, of course, his instincts and decades of experience kicked in, but that night, it wasn't enough. Against almost any other boxer, he would have survived or even won, but Tyson was just too quick and fierce.

 

That's the same mistake many made. Biggs admitted the same. Like Biggs , Holmes seemed to lean into Mike and give away his height advantage.
I watched the fight again today and Holmes wasn't as competitive as I remember. Like Biggs ( after Biggs came off his toes after round 1) he just pushed out his jab to try and disrupt Tyson and tried to tie him up.Holmes only really fired some punches once the game was up. Like Biggs he was constantly beaten to the punch and even when he threw something it just bounced off Mike almost unnoticed. Holmes looked like he had no legs.
Given how well he later did is surprising after re watching this. It's still strange he didn't take a tune up however.

 

Yes he looked far worse than I had remembered. His movements and body posture looked old, but strangely looked better in later fights. Hence my original question about maybe he could've done better with more prep.

 

Larry said this either in his book or in an interview, I forget which: He learned upon retiring that there’s a difference between having money and having income.

When you have money, every time you spend some of it ... it’s gone. It doesn’t come back.

When you have income, it replaces money you’ve spent. After a bit of time without real income (not sure if his investment properties that were rented had started to bring in decent cash yet, I think at this point he was still in the stage of paying out to buy property and build buildings to rent), he got the big offer and said, ‘It’s a massive influx of income, why not?’

He also, shrewdly, insisted on having the rights to the Tyson-Holmes video ... as in he owns (or at least owned - maybe he’s sold it since) the rights to the fight. So any Tyson anthology would have to pay him to include that fight.

Larry was a great fighter and a great businessman.

 

I said in the very next post he came back for the money mostly.

He made 10 Mil vs Cooney, my original point is spot on. Heck, he got 3.1 mil against Marvis Frazier.

 

Holmes was flabbier in his comeback 4 years later. I mean he was almost as fat as Foreman!

I actually thought Larry looked in good shape for Tyson. He had to be in good shape if he figured it took 5 rounds to tire Tyson out and turn his jets on.

Proud Holmes didn't take this fight for the money nor did he underestimate a prime, 21 year old undefeated dynamo. In fact, he fought fairly well in there for 4 rounds. Not prime but nowhere near done...

 

I'm trying to figure what's the relation to the topic also.

 

I don't buy into Holmes excuses that he went into the Tyson bout unprepared and just for a money grab. He was dissing Tyson and in the Biggs post fight interview kept talking about the number of weaknesses he saw in Tyson and how he would neutralize him with his skills, experience and class.

Also Both Tyson and Holmes knew that a show down with each other was inevitable from 1985 onwards. Holmes clearly underestimated Tyson's skills and abilities, the fact Tyson was able to KO him and the only fighter to KO him also shows that he had never ever faced a finisher like Tyson before as Holmes in his entire career has always successfully managed to recover from knock downs and bad situations.

 

In the post fight interview, Holmes mentioned that while Tyson wasn't the hardest puncher he faced, he was definately the quickest and the most accurate, sharpest puncher he faced. He also mentioned at the time that Tyson was without a doubt the best fighter in the world and that Spinks was nothing in comparison but a paper champion.

 

Lol it wasn't as if Larry was just eating, drinking, partying the whole time during his layoff. He was taking part in boxing exhibitions where he was sparring and boxing for 15 rounds. Obviously no one is saying that was a peak or a very good Larry Holmes in 1988 but if you put that Larry Holmes in 1988 with other average fighters, he would manage to give a very good account of himself.

Even Tyson in the post fight interview mentioned it was an honor for him to have shared the ring with the great Larry Holmes and that he would not have had a chance if he had fought him in his prime. He still maintains today in interviews that Holmes in 1988 wasn't ready.

 

Its a simple question, when Holmes get knocked down in the Shavers fight or the Ronaldo Snipes fight in 1981, if that was Tyson in the ring at the moment, does Holmes survive? Big question marks, he had never faced a finisher like Tyson in his career.

If he was knocked down in 1988 against Shavers or Snipes, does he survive the knockdowns? Much higher chances, and even in 1988 Tyson had to throw the entire Kitchen Sink at him to get him out of there.

 

If tyson managed to get a hard knockdown like shavers did against a prime holmes in 1979, i only see 2 outcomes that are possible:

1-holmes survives the round then gets on his bike to recover, ties tyson up, then proceeds to outbox a slower, tiring tyson who missed his chance. Tyson had no KO wins past the 7th, and i cant confidently pick him to defy his own odds against a younger, tougher, hungry holmes who could still move and had a high punch output. Holmes wins by UD 15, or TKO in the 14th against an exhausted stationary tyson eith a swollen eye.

2-tyson ends it right there in the 7th with a fercosious assault.

Tyson never proved to have the stamina for a 12 round war with a master boxer, let alone a 15 round war. If Tyson doesnt stop holmes by the 9th, he would simply run out of steam and get cracked by a tenacious holmes who either outboxes him for a decision win or stops him late.

Now he reverse, what if 1988 holmes was dropped by snipes or shavers?

Snipes loses even against and older holmes. He simply wasnt in holmes' class as a fighter and just so happened to catch holmes at just the right moment with his guard down. Holmes by wide UD.

Shavers on the other hand was relentless, was far more skilled and experienced than snipes, and if this is shavers in his prime from the 70's against an old holmes, he wins by brutal Ko around round 5-6 if he manages to drop him like did in their 2nd fight. Holmes would definitely win the rematch with a boring safety first, defensive, point based strategy for a lopsided win.