Larry Holmes Greatest Win

The Ken Norton fight,for guts and pulling out all the stops for victory. As far as skill goes,the first Earnie Shavers bout.

 

In chronological order:
Shavers I.

Cooney. (These first two according to his own testimony)

Cobb. Championship distance shutout off the back foot on Cobb's home turf. Tex pushed Norton and Dokes to split decisions, and Douglas to a majority decision. Before drug abuse caught up to him against Eddie Gregg in 1985, only Holmes dominated him on the cards like this. (I saw Gregg drop Cobb, and have to say that the knockdown did not look convincing to me. Tex has intimated that not all of his bouts were on the level.)

Mercer.

Honorable mention:

Ocasio. Virtually destroys Jaws with the power jab alone.

Evangelista. The definitive one punch knockout win of his career.

Leon Spinks. Many pundits believed Leon would upset him to regain the title. Holmes chose precisely when to end it. About a minute before the conclusion, he sent a shudder through Leon's body with a hook. Holmes wasn't known for his hook, but it was a part of his arsenal, as shown here.

Paul Poirier. Larry ruins him with a single body shot in round four, what Poirier called the hardest punch anybody ever hit him with. (He'd previously been stopped by Stewart and Tucker.) This is not a means of winning a fight one might have expected of a stylist like Holmes. Ali would never have halted an opponent by going downstairs, let alone with a single blow.

 

Probably Shavers I.

 

WHEN HE FOUGHT SHAVERS EARNIE WAS ALREADY EXPOSED several times and was not really a great obstacle but still a puncher so I would say one of Larry's top foes.

At the time he fought Weaver Weaver was an 18-9 trial horse and Holmes was almost upset (this fight gave Weaver confidence. Norton was a fighter that was thought of as beatable, most felt he lost to Young and Ken was KO'd in his next fight.

Williams and Witherspoon was 15 fight novices although many felt they won.

Spinks was KO'd in 1 rd by Coetzee a few fights before Holmes fought him and he was 10-2-2, Ocasio had 13 fights, Bey had 14-01, Bonecrusher was a 15-1 fight novice and get scared by a cut.

Snipes was dropped 2 times by Coetzzee and stole the decision but a life and death get off the floor was a good win for Larry

I would have to say Gerry Cooney, even though Gerry never fought more than 8rds he was underfeated and was a proven puncher, although a one-handed fighter, he was 24-0 and Larry fought a smart fight....I would have to say Cooney

 

Shavers 1
Norton
Shavers 2
Ocasio
L.Spinks

 

"Noton, Shavers 2 & Cooney."

MR.BILL:bbb

 

Norton! If he doesn't pull out the last round, who knows how his career transpires.

 

Gerry Cooney was his big win, one of those spotlight fights like Ali

 

Norton.

This fight had everything: the highest stakes (the title!); Holmes' trademark arrogant-skills-based dominance; down-to-the-wire drama, capped by, in Cosell's memorable words, "the gutsiest stand" he ever saw a fellow put on in a final round in all his 25 years. Holmes pulled out victory in perhaps boxing's greatest 15-round ever against a fighter who had given Muhammad Ali so much trouble. As he always did, the Easton Assassin made the fight a contest of manhood and he lifted the title.

But the Cooney win must be a close second.

The stakes were the highest as well, but with the added charge of racial pride on the line. Cooney was wrongly elevated as an Irish White Hope against a proud black champion, who never endeavored to be anything but the people's champion, all people's champion.

Forced to stand up to such a challenge, once in the ring Holmes invited his opponent to "have a good fight", then proceeded to dismantle the myth of "Rocky" Cooney, sealing his legacy as one of the greatest champions of all time. Dominant, cool, exuding masterly capability, he truly looked like a champion that night.

 

His top two have to be norton and shavers 2. They pretty much established him as the best hw in the world.

Beating ali and spinks helped unify some claims for people who follow that line of thinking.

Then obviously cooney deserves a mention because history can never change how highly regarded he was going into that fight.

The next two are probably mercer and mccall great showings for a man in his 40's.

I'd put the rematch against michael spinks up there as well as it reestablished him as the best hw (although not by a clear margin).

There's a lot to choose from really.

As I said at the start, it has to be between ken and earnie for me. Providing you scored the fight for larry and against ken I think that should take it.

Ken was the best hw in the planet coming off close victories over ali and young. Larry was a bit of an unproven upstart who had been getting the better of ali in sparring. That fight was everything a hw fight should be.

 

No one mentioning Witherspoon? Norton is a given, as is Cooney, that ones underrated with revisionism. Weaver, Smith and Berbick would go onto win belts. Snipes was good

 

His win over Ken Norton..it was a classic 15 round battle that Holmes won essentially by taking that crucial 15th round.

 

Shavers had just gone 15 with Ali and should have gotten a draw ... he was not a great fighter but a very dangerous one who for once has highly trained and ready and still got shut out ...

Weaver was a very dangerous fighter who also gave his all for his big shot ... Holmes fought him wit the flu and should not have been in the ring ... he showed tremendous heart to rally and stop a Weaver who went on to KO Tate, KO Coetzse, fight a prime Dokes to a draw, KO Carl Williams and defeat a young Quick Tillis ...

Williams and Witherspoon were hungry, large, young, highly talented and fit contenders, the type that are extremely dangerous for aging champions ...

More to come ...

 

Norton was still near-peak and in the opinions of many, the number one heavyweight in the world at the time. Larry won convincingly in my opinion. I love Norton, but that fight wasn't as close as the judges said. Larry did what Ali could never do, which was decisively beat Ken Norton.