Let's talk about Larry Holmes

> Top 5 (#3).


> Head to head he'd be extremely formidable, I'd say on a par with Ali here. Outside that: Liston, Lewis, Louis and Frazier would be the next closest. All-time, I'd only have Louis and Ali ahead.


> Best performance: Norton I, Cooney or Shavers I. Worst performance: the Bey fight, Spinks I or Holyfield (harsh, maybe)


> Greg Page or a Witherspoon rematch.

 

top 3

I'd make him an under dog to Louis and Ali, whom i rate ahead of him tough he has a solid chance

 

We've gone through this topic on quite a few occasions in the classic forum, but here's my $0.02.

Holmes in my opinion, is either drastically over rated by some, or extremely under rated by others. Some fans/experts have him rated at #3 ( too high ), while others have him around #10 ( too low ). Seldomly does anyone take a balanced approach when giving him a rating.

I think Holmes deserves to be ranked somewhere between #4 to #6 on an all time great list. The fact, that he had the second highest number of title defenses, topped only by Joe Louis, and the second best undefeated win streak, bested only by Rocky Marciano, earns him a place around or near the top 5. However, the fact that he defended his title against a considerable amount of second raters, as well as prospects with too few fights, makes it very hard to place him in the same category as a Muhammad Ali.

I couldn't tell you which win was his absolute best, but I can provide a small list of fights that I feel were noteworthy of mention. Both Shavers fights along with his wins over Norton, Cooney, Witherspoon and Mercer were all quality wins over good fighters. I would list his first meeting with Michael Spinks as being the worst performance of his career, omitting his later defeats to Tyson, Holyfield and Mccall given that these came at a rather advanced stage in his career.

Head to head, I think he would have been a very formidable opponent for just about any all time great, when in his prime.

 

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Lewis
4. Johnson
5. Holmes
6. Marciano
7. Dempsey
8. Liston
9. Frazier
10. Jeffries
11. Holyfield
12. Foreman
13. Wills
14. Tyson
15. Langford
16. Charles
17. Walcott
18. Patterson
19. Corbett
20. Tunney
21. Schmeling
22. McVey
23. Bowe
24. Fitzsimmons
25. Baer

 

He's not going to outbox or impress the judges against Ali. He has to be strong on the offense and go after Ali (prime). Early Ali is simply too fast - Later Ali's chin would allow him to trade successfully with Holmes; win enough close rounds to take a split decision.

Liston just bulls Holmes around and takes him out of his comfort zone. People only really know the 60's Liston - Liston, circa 1958, was EVERY Heavyweight's worst nightmare.

 

I have Larry at #2, maybe 3. He's very underrated and perhaps was the smartest heavyweight I've ever seen in the ring (yes, smarter than Ali). Larry did all the things that one needed to be successful and had one of the sweetest jabs the sport's ever seen.

 

No 5, I think Holmes gives any Champion a close fight.
he had a right uppercut the equal of Johnsons,a fast jab ,hurtful right ,great powers of recuperation ,and very big balls.
Best performance =Cooney
Worst performance =Spinks 1 [Im talking while Champ].
Should have given Witherspoon and Williams rematches,and fought Page and Thomas.If he had won he would be top 3 for me.