How would Holmes fare against Young? How bad would Young make Holmes look? Bare in mind that Holmes could let his hands go, and could look better than Ali and Norton did while coming forward, so he has another dimension. 15 rounds, primes, the whole shebang.
Holmes wins being the aggresor but young would frustrate the hell of him and would make holmes look idiot
I don't see how any version of Holmes would have trouble beating Jimmy Young. Sure, he'd miss more than usual but he'd still get off plenty if jabs and straight rights.
They are equally skilled but Holmes has a big edge in power and aggression. He would want it more and would go and take it.
I love Young, but this is a bad matchup for him. BUT! If you see what Witherspoon did with him, Young could do better, make him miss, then counter. The Young of the Norton fight could get it done.
Precisely how I see it. Could have happened in 1978 had Jimmy been given the nod in the Ken Norton bout which could easily have gone either way. Because of styles,though,it would n't have been as good to watch as Holmes-Norton.
It was SUPPOSED to happen in March 1979, but Ossie Ocasio spoiled things. If Young would've won the January '79 Ocasio rematch he'd have gotten that March shot vs. Holmes. Which Holmes would've won fairly easy in a 15 round distance fight.
In 1979, I think Larry would've stopped Young. I could see Holmes' jab eating Young alive and Holmes stopping him - kind of like ****ey did - somewhere around the eighth or ninth. I couldn't believe Young lost that rematch to Ocasio. I was a big Jimmy Young fan back then. Not so much anymore.
Holmes wins on activity and aggression in a fight no one would ever want to watch again. Holmes usually got the benefit of the doubt in the close ones, while Young never did.
Young is a bit overrated. Larry would beat him on a wide unanimous decision over fifteen. If ****ey, Dokes, and Page could do it, why not Larry?
Here's the scoop boys. After 'losing' to Norton; it still ****es me off, judges seem to reward aggression over chess-like precision countering. (I still love that 10th round of Young-Norton!) Remember, in Nevada the referee does not score the fight and, when asked who he thought had won, he said he would have scored it Jimmy's fight. But...the Norton 'loss' literally broke Jimmy's heart. That short window of prime of his broke with that fight. **** on Ocasio, he wouldn't have lost had he got the nod against Ken. Probably wouldn't have even fought a marginal guy like him. That being said, Larry was bigger with, somewhat, similar tools as Young. In his window of prime he loved fighting the 'bangers'. Had them figured out if he avoided a bomb. IMO a rather uneventful s****. Larry's jab would negate Young's countering as Jimmy's forte was slipping the big banger's charges and countering. I love Jimmy Young, I love Larry Holmes but I see a fairly clear decision for Larry based on style and size alone. My somewhat limited $0.02.
Holmes would brutalize Young. Total mismatch. Bad fight for Young. None of Young's spoiler tactics would work on Holmes.