Larry Holmes Questions

Greg PAGE!!!!!

 

you know my answers on these Suzie, I liked Larry during his reign and thought he did enough to beat Norton in an excellent match-up but close, I thought he won it in the last rd. I had wished there was a rematch and although Norton was quickly Ko'd by Shavers it did not stop Larry from fighting Leon Spinks after getting KO's in 1 by Coetzee. Larry fought the least experience group of contenders, guys with 10 fights Marvis 10-0, Spinks 10-2-2, 13 fight Ocasio,14-0-1 David Bey, 14-1 James Smith and then there was Evangelista, and Zanon and Lucien Rodriguez, Scott Ledoux,Scott Frank,Randall Cobb...even some of the better fighters he beat Weaver 18-9 (almost beat him) 16-0 Tim Witherspoon and Carl Williams,Renaldo Snipes just got thrashed and dropped 2X by Coetzee but because of KINGS ownership of the judges Snipes got the shot instead of Coetzee, Shavers was beaten and Ko'd multiple time prior to Holmes and beaten and dropped by the 20-25 Bob Stallings so while I give Larry credit for getting off the floor he was not brave giving Shavers a rematch because the 1st fight with Shavers was an easy one and then he went out on a limb and fought Spinks in Michaels first fight as a Heavyweight and lost.

I would have liked to see him fight Thomas, Tate, Coetzee,Page, Dokes,Weaver when they all had there window opportunity as a Co-Champions

I thought Weaver improved after the Holmes fight and a rematch was a natural with WEAVER getting the win over Tate and a co-champ

I thought Thomas and Page were risky fights but had thee window for a big money fight.

I though Coetzee had a good stylistic chance vs Holmes because of his right hand

I also think Larry's rematch record was one of the poorest if not the poorest in Boxing.

Norton (should have been immediate)
Weaver (especially after Weaver KO'd Tate in the 15th of a fight he was well behind
Witherspoon ( would have been an interesting fight after the close disputed 1st)
Williams """"

After seeing Holmes as an older fighter getting smashed by Tyson it confirmed that some of these fighters could have had a good chance to beat him, especially the good right hand punchers.

I liked Larry's attitude and toughness getting off the floor vs Snipes and Shavers but can not rate him top 5 in all good conscience when there were so many others like Louis,Marciano, Charles,etc. that re matched hard fights and prevailed or did not prevail but still gave the shot in Charles case against Walcott

I can not give Holmes a top 5 rating based on a win on Cooney (who never fought beyond 8 rds, or his Shavers win and I think those 2 are his highest rated guys

 

Yeah, I was about to say what Kally said.....A Whiterspoon rematch was needed !

 

pinklon thomas in 84(he shoulda fought thomas..............page lost to berbick so no biggie/coetzee lost to page no biggie....and dokes lost to coeztee no biggie.............BUT HE SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT PINKLON AFTER PINKY BEAT THOMAS

 

Funny,I remember a couple of months back when he criticized that Floyd Mayweather was getting a "little too scared" to fight Pacquiao.I think that same thing happened to him a few decades ago,when he was being over protective with his undefeated record.Talk about pot calling a kettle black.

 

You never watch the boxing interview with Holmes recently?
I think it was clear enough for anyone that followed his career that he was over-protective of his undefeated record (the same way Floyd does),especially when he came so close to break the legendary 49-0 benchmark.

Don't tell me you don't notice that,SuzieQ49

 

I agree with everything you posted here. Holmes was a great fighter, but there are way too many holes in his championship reign that should impact his all-time ranking.

 

I saw all of these fighters at there best and none of the above 4 mentioned fighters would have stood a chance against Holmes, simply not in his league. Holmes was a very active champion and I dont think he ducked anyone ever. Ive talked to him a few times in person and theres no way he was afraid to fight anybody. The most complete HW I ever saw.

 

It's been a least a month since we had a multiple page go around on this exact topic so here we go ..

1. No. The alphabets were working for Tyson to unify the titles and against Holmes . Politics pure and simple ... just different motivations ..

2. No. Thomas had a very short run as a top contender andy it was near the end of Holmes' .. Page was pummeled at will by Trevor Berbick who Holmes beat and then by Witherspoon and Bey , two other fighters Holmes defended against and defeated. Coetzee was iced by Weaver who Holmes KO'ed and lost to pretty much every other top contender other than the coked up Dokes. Dokes was a DK fighter who was kept away from Holmes for political reasons ..

3. None. None of the fighters mentioned ever achieved much ..

4. Maybe a Witherspoon rematch ... maybe a Weaver rematch .. I would have liked to see him fight Tate to chop him up .. or Coetzee when he fought Weaver to do the same ..

 

I Love the 'Easton Assassin'

First off,,,,,,,

I feel Larry should have fought Mike Weaver again,,,,,,,,,

Any slot between April 1980 and December 1982

Probably an October/November/December 1982 bout looks like it could have been done.

Larry could erase Randy Cobb (11/82) and Mike Weaver could erase Michale Dokes (12/82)

The 'much improved' and 'new found confidence' in Hercules would have made for
an interesting battle.

 

Larry Holmes was a great fighter, no doubt about it! But he was not, in my opinion, a great heavyweight champion, at least for the second half of his reign.

Two major issues that prevent Holmes, in my mind, from being ranked as a top heavyweight champion.

http://anthonyj33.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Larry-Holmes-is-Not-an-All-Time-Great