Larry Holmes & Wladimir Klitschko againt their respective oponents

Wlad would easily tear through Holmes opponents and he would never lose to someone like Spinks even past his best. Holmes would struggle way more especially with all the southpaws Wlad fought, though i can see him beating most wouldn't surprise me if he has way more close decisions or even losses to the guys who Wlad dominated.

 

I can see Wlad getting all the way to 1988 were as Holmes lost in 1985 to Spinks till he has to face Mike Tyson like eventually Holmes did were there could be some problems.

 

In my opinion Wladimir Klitschko (I'm talking about the Wladimir trained by Emanuel Steward) would have been the clear favorite against all the opponents that Holmes had in his reign as champion, good and very good fighter but no champion (except Michael Spinks and very faded Ali). But if Wladimir had taken the overhand punch with which Shavers knocked Holmes down the Ukrainian would not have been able to get up in my opinion, but I think that the defense, the jab and the reach would have allowed him to not take that blow.

On the other hand Holmes I think could have had problems only with Tyson Fury. The footwork, the good timing, the reach and the size of the Englishman could have created difficulties for Larry. Fury would have boxed him from the outside, the Easton Assassins was a very classy boxer with one of the best jab in the history of boxing, it would have been a very interesting fight.

 

Well said. And I have always said guys like Ibragimov and Chagaev in their primes and at their bests were highly underrated. They would’ve absolutely gave Holmes all he could handle and then some. Corrie Sanders for sure. I would actually put prime Chris Byrd in the same class as Spinks to be honest. Extremely tricky fighter who not many looked good against.

 

And the only one who did was Wlad

 

You know people make excuses for Wlad like he'd have been even better and greater if Cus hadn't have died but truth is Rooney was his trainer through most of his best stuff so it doesn't mean that much and you'll never convince me otherwise. I think Wlad pretty much is as great as he was going to get. Sorry, not sorry.

 

Wlad's gauntlet is much more challenging in my opinion. I reckon Holmes would have picked up a few losses on the way. They both had a jab-centric game but used it to different ends. Wlad's big advantage is his size and power. He was able to make people respect him fast if they tried to rush him. Holmes is faster and has snappier punches but his power is nowhere in the same leagues. Guys who had to be cautious against Wlad would be able to press Holmes. The other thing is that Wlad's footwork is light and idealized for creating distance. Holmes also had good footwork but he was not able to keep guys on the end of his jab all night long as Wlad was. Wlad's size played a big role in this too.

 

Some people say that the 10 year layoff hurt him, but the truth is that the shoulder injury against a prime Ali was inevitable.

That said: If he'd been given the benefit of modern nutrition, Wlad would've been at least 240 pounds.

 

I think they both beat each others victims. I wouldn’t favor anyone Holmes beat over Wladimir nor vice versa. As far as how they’d do against each others conquerors it’s a bit more complicated