Larry Holmes W 15 Carl Williams

AP having Holmes that far ahead seems off to me but it was a point less then two of the judges. The AP was in accord with the three judges and many others, Williams didn't complain of the verdict saying, "I hate to think of losing but I lost to a great champion".

 

Who gave the fight to Williams? Judges and AP did not. Close fight does not mean the champion loses.

 

Plenty of knowledgable boxing fans feel that Williams pulled it off. There were several very close rounds that could have gone either way though, in my opinion.

PS- The champion loses if he loses more rounds than the challenger, whether they're close rounds or not.

 

The question is what percentage at ringside gave the fight to Williams? Not many from my memory as I saw the bout live. Who you may think is knowledgeable means little.

 

You rely on what you remember from 30 years ago; I'll go by what I just watched 3 hours ago. And I couldn't care less what the people at ringside thought.

 

Your opinion is in the ultra minority.

 

At one point I gave this fight to Holmes but looking back I'm not so sure.. Larry was never truly in control of that fight and Williams arguably looked just as good as Spinks did in his first meeting with Holmes.

 

Have you ever seen a fight replay when you attended the event live?

There is a different vibe at ringside. The big moments become even bigger, and the pitter pat stuff which could be opposite your view means less.

So in a close fight, as this was, it makes a difference in the scoring.

Just saying.

 

There's a flip side to that coin though. When you watch it live, your line of vision is limited by your seating position. You are also more subject to being influenced by how other fans react (or don't react) to the action. I've had a couple of instances where I've scored close fights differently enough to change the verdict after watching replays at home.

 

That is my point. Williams failed to rise to the occasion, and Holmes hurt him a bit. These things mean more at the event, away from television.

TV announcers are cheerleaders at times, and might only reply the action given to them. So the influence can work both ways.

 

I had the fight even going into the 14th round. I had Holmes winning the last 2 rounds, and the fight.

 

Larry Holmes vs Carl Williams

1 Williams
2 Williams
3 Even
4 Holmes
5 Williams
6 Williams
7 Holmes
8 Holmes
9 Holmes
10 Williams
11 Williams
12 Holmes
13 Williams
14 Holmes
15 Holmes

143-143 Draw

I had it even stevens a draw.

 

I remember thinking at the time ,,this is going to be a close decision .

 

Boxing involves more subjective judgments than other sports (I'm not counting anything MMA because I don't follow it and am not familiar with all the rules). Given that, and given the historic respect boxing champions always have got, I kind of like the unwritten rule of "you've got to take it from the champ".

Boxing champs are a special thing to me. I'd rather have a beer with the current HW champ than any movie star or politician.

 

My score:

Larry Holmes v Carl 'The Truth' Williams

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Williams
Round 3: 10-9 Williams
Round 4: 10-10 Even
Round 5: 10-9 Williams
Round 6: 10-9 Williams
Round 7: 10-9 Holmes
Round 8: 10-9 Williams
Round 9: 10-9 Holmes
Round 10: 10-9 Williams
Round 11: 10-9 Williams
Round 12: 10-9 Holmes
Round 13: 10-9 Williams
Round 14: 10-9 Holmes
Round 15: 10-9 Holmes

Total: 145-142 Williams