Well take a look at the clowns he fought during his title reign. Renaldo Snipes is not a very good fighter, but was able to drop him. Shavers was past his best and slow as molasses but dropped him and almost killed. Weaver and Witherspoon were also landing on him consistently. Other than these guys, no one he fought was a good overall puncher (except Cooney who was all left hook)
If anyone was a sucker for anyone who could fight, it would be Holmes :huh He went life and death with Norton, Witherspoon, Weaver while at his absolute best.
And when he was at his absolute worst, he completely outboxed Ray Mercer who was over a decade younger than himself, was 18-0, an olympic gold medalist, and had just creamed Morrison and Damiani. Holmes also did a pretty good number on Cooney during his prime. Lewis was arguably gifted a decision against a far worse version of Ray Mercer than the one who Holmes beat at age 42!!!!!
No way Mercer was worse against Lewis. He overlooked Holmes and didn't think he was going to be that good, against Lewis it was one of his best fights.
Lets see now...Shavers had one of his best his best performances against Ali in 1977, then in early 1978 Holmes won by a shut out. He again beat Shavers in 1979, in Shavers book he states he was in great shape and completely prepared for the fights and Holmes was just the better fighter. Renaldo Snipes for Larry was like Henry Cooper for Ali. Just a fighter getting careless as they were dominating. Larry took a chance against Shavers by throwing an uppercut on the out side, it obviously didn't work in the least. In the Weaver fight Larry went in with the flu, and in the Witherspoon fight Larry was clearly aging. The Cooney fight was his last prime performance.
Against Norton Holmes had the torn bicep, against Weaver he had the flu, and against Witherspoon he was past his best and had clearly gone down hill and was quickly fading.
Ezzard, do you think it is fair to compare Lewis getting flattened by McCall and Rachman in his prime with Holmes coming back from an 18 month layoff to take a fight with a prime Tyson on six weeks notice? Putting aside how dumb it was for Holmes to take the fight only for the money, I do not think it is the same as Lewis' KO losses. In addition, Lewis was one and out while Holmes kept getting up till the third knockdown... Bill1234, you have it right in my book.
I don't really think it's fair, but I was trying to balance the books, so to speak. Holmes is not really getting a fair shake. Another analysis which pains me is the Holmes always tried to brawl when hurt. Mike Tyson always gave up when hurt but nobody likes to mention this. Holmes was atruly great champion and you could not write him off against anyone.
This is simply not true. If you watch the interviews several months before Holmes-Tyson, Larry will state over and over that he wants Tyson, has been training really well, is rich already but wants Tyson's name on his resume.
Really Chris, I know Larry personally and know this first hand. He may have said to the media he wanted a fight . That was Larry, trying to get attention and another paycheck. However, from when the fight was signed until the men met in the ring he had a very short time to prepare for so dangerous an opponent at his age after so long a layoff. Of course he was going to tell the public he was in good shape. He did work out in his local gym. However, hitting the bag a few rounds and jumping rope and then going to your own bar for beers is not a training camp. He hyped what all concerned feared would be a mismatch and it was ... a very sad one.
Yes, of course after he'd been layed out by Tyson, he came with excuses that he was only there for the money, barely had time to train, etc etc. Several months before the fight he already said he was in the gym daily and in great shape, and looked the part too (as far as a 37 year old can). He was far past his best, but let's not pretend Larry's hind-sight-after-being-knocked-out stories of "I was thrown in with a peak Tyson on 3 days notice and only there picking up my check!" are true. He met Tyson at the wrong point in his career and if he was younger, who knows what would've happened, but be that as it may.... Tyson still stopped him. Unless, of course, you find it likely that a filthy rich man, months before the fight just pretends he is in shape, while in fact he refuses to train on purpose, and fights the most dangerous man on the planet just to make the point of picking up a check he doesn't need.
It's common knowledge that Holmes trained for a bout 2 weeks with no warm up fights. Holmes is also a man who likes the money... Tyson still stopped him, fair enough, but it's hardly a stellar win.
Yes, common knowledge for those who need an excuse to live with Holmes being destroyed. Watch the FACTS, i.e. interviews several months before the fight, and you'll see a confident Holmes talking about how he has been back in the gym for a long time, in great shape, etc.
the facts are (1) he said he was training then (2) he said he wasn't... Those are the only facts discernible. What actually happened has nothing to do with what he said. In the first case. I've never heard a fighter say: I haven't been training. I'm past my best. I can't win. I'm not in shape. I'm a ceredible opponent because I used to be champ and that's why the promoter is willing to pay me.