Larry Holmes vs. Evander Holyfield 1992

I think it's more accurate to simply say Holmes didn't have the legs anymore. The savvy and instinct were still there, which allowed him to potshot pretty effectively, and pick off and block a number of punches, but a sustained effort was out of the question at that point. His guile, savvy, and experience were enough to hold off a smaller, less skilled, and less experienced guy like Holyfield, but at that stage, that's about all he could do.

 

holmes at age 42 beats a 42 yr old holy...........but back in 92 yes it was a case of holmes having no legs

 

Nailed it for me.
Holmes's best round was probably the 2nd, where it was looking like Holmes-Mercer all over again, but the biggest problem Holmes had throughout his whole 'comeback career' was his stamina. As an older guy, it could never be as good as it was.

I had Holyfield a winner to the tune of about 9-3, 8-4 at a stretch. Holmes made him look bad at times, but he was still the busier guy.

 

Holyfield was in his prime in 1992. I recently saw some of Holyfield fights with Cooper, Foreman, and Douglas, and my conclusion was Holyfield slowed down a bit in the mid 1990’s, and was in clear decline when he first meet Lennox Lewis.

While Holyfield defeated Holmes, I think this fight showed us that a good boxer like Holmes could land on Holyfield. Holmes was a master boxer. Holmes problem was he was too old ( 42 ) to throw enough punches to win a match vs a prime Holyfield. Holyfield won the fight 8-4, or 7-4-1 on my archived card. At one point in the fight, Holmes managed to cut Holyfield.

Sometimes in boxing, an older fighter can lose the fight but still prove a point. Foreman, and Tyson did not do as well vs Holyfield. I think Holmes did better than most thought he could do. He proved his point even if he did not win the fight.

It’s a pity most in boxing fail to see the significance of this fight. It had a real impact on Holyfield’s career. After the Holmes fight, the top trainers noted what Holmes could do. Then Bowe, Moorer, and Lewis used similar game plans to defeat Holyfield.

 

Think it was about the 6th round...? when Holmes cut Holyfield. It was due to an accidental elbow while throwing a punch, rather than an intended punch though.

Still, it was a potentially nasty one, and Holy looked a little uncertain in the next round due to it. But Ace Miranda did a bravura job stopping the bleeding and Holy got back to his gameplan.

That Holyfield then ditched Ace before his next fight and complained he cost too much never sat right with me, I hate to say...the old guy did a great job that night.

 

Holmes looked good, even made Holyfield look foolish a couple of times, but only for a few rounds.
The majority of the fight Holmes just went into walkabout survival mode.

Holyfield showed some smarts in there too, he adjusted his attacks after a few rounds so as to not leave the openings for Larry.

I thought Holmes won 3 rounds maybe. But in his prime I think he'd beat Holyfield.
The best Holmes had a style to beat the best Holyfield, IMO.

The two greatest heavyweights since Ali & Frazier, IMO.
(But I understand the arguments for LL)

 

Had it 9-3, or maybe even 9-2-1.

 

And he was canned on the advice of the man who was in Holme’s corner that night, of all people!

 

Haha you must be joking... Foreman did way better than holmes against holyfied. Foreman fought to win attacking and even hurting evander.holmes fought a defensive fight only to survive

 

I did not see it that lopsided. Scored it for Evander by 3 rounds because he outworked down the stretch.
Holmes was landing the cleaner, harder blows for most of the fight.

 

Larry was way past his best, but Evander didn't hit hard enough to dent his chin. Holyfield outhustled him.

That "theory" about the contact lenses is completedly bogus.

No fighter seems able to admit when he is way past it.

It wasn't the first time Larry made a lame excuse for a bad performance (see Witherspoon fight).

Holmes "lack of vigor" and decreased equilibrium was due to the fact he was 10 yrs removed from his prime, with slower reflexes, decreased movement and worse timing.

He remained wiley, however.

Prime Holmes most likely beats that version of Holyfield by UD.

 

I thought Larry did great that night, as a 42 year old being in there with an ATG in his prime

 

Holmes was very fortunate at the end of the last round when he threw up. He was at the point of exhaustion and the corner of Commander Vander would have had him jumping all over the guy if there was another round.

 

Holyfield was criticized for a poor performance against an aged legend. That tells everything. The Holyfield corner alleged that Holmes with his cheating, cut Evander deliberately on the eye which severely disadvantaged him for the remainder of the fight and Holmes then proceeded to target that cut close to the eye. Extremely unsporting by Holmes.