Making a Best I Faced for Larry Holmes

I respect your views, Jack.

 

Ah c'mon now. Tyson may deserve several categories, but best jab? Very good for his length, certainly not best.
And Cobb both had a better chin & Holmes beat him continually, unlike landing so much on Tyson in a fairly brief fight.

There is no elite fighter who faces many great fighters where the top guy in every category is one man.
Your bias is showing.

EDIT: I see your corrections now, & few are willing to make admissions, very good thanks.

 

Pretty goodman, but best puncher does not mean the hardest, but most effective, so it might well be Tyson.
Combinations & accuracy are huge.
Just like Louis was among the very greatest puncher, although some hit harder than him.

Tyson was not the strongest, as many testify to re: things like being pushed back.
He was very strong, but yes the likes of Bonecrusher was stronger-& hit harder-but was not nearly as good.

But who did Holmes face that had faster feet than Tyson?

 

Very good post and assessment.

 

You Larry Holmes

This content is protected

suck !!!

 

He's just harmlessly teasing me, Primo. He knows Holmes is my favorite fighter.

I call no foul, NoNeck is a good dude...even if he's not wild about Larry lol!

You're a good dude too, my friend.

 

Larry and George Foreman should become a double act and go on some nationalwide or even world tour (covid restrictions permitting). They are the two oldest heavyweight champions still alive and I’m sure they still have a ton of stories and knowledge they want to share with fans while they are still able too. You can even have Larry playing the serious straight man while George tells all the jokes.

 

George would want 80–20 and Larry would demand 50-50.

 

Isn't that kind of what happened in the late 90s? lol

 

Well, George wouldn’t have to worry about getting jabbed to death this time.

 

Well if we ignore Holmes bias and ego, this would be my list based on how he performed and the stats for the opponents.



Best Jab : Spinks, then Williams, then Norton

Best Puncher : Shavers, then a tie between Smith/Cooney, then Tyson in terms of just raw power.

Best Defense : Tyson, then a tie between Witherspoon/Norton

I do agree with OPjawbreaker that Witherspoon was a little but more elusive than Norton, but I do think Norton was more aggressive and that led to him being tagged more.

Fastest Hands : Tyson, then Witherspoon, then Holyfield

Fastest Feet : Spinks, then Witherspoon, then Tyson.

Real shame Spoon got flabby and lazy, his footwork was beautiful against Holmes.

Best Chin : Tex Cobb, then Mercer, then Smith, then Tyson.

Strongest : Smith or Cobb tied for first, probably Mercer and Holyfield after that.

Best Boxing Skills : Holyfield, then Spinks, then Tyson, tie between Witherspoon and Norton.

Smartest : Holyfield, then Spinks.

Overall : Tyson is in 6 categories despite only being #1 in in 1 category so that says a lot.

 

The vicious ending of Holmes-Shavers II. Holmes could be a creepy force of nature when it came time to finish things. The ref was right to put an end to this, with the quickness. Watch the way Holmes goes after him like a predator finishing his prey.

This content is protected

 

For how I'd expect Larry to answer...

Best Jab : Williams. Carl really held his own in a battle of the jabs.

Best Puncher: Shavers or Tyson. He's extremely consistent with saying Shavers hit hardest, but immediately following his fight with Tyson he mentioned Mike's sharpness

Hardest Puncher: Shavers. Probably the most clear and easy answer that could be given.

Best Defense : Witherspoon or Tyson. Maybe Michael Spinks.

Fastest Hands : Tyson or Holyfield

Fastest Feet : Spinks. Ali if he decided to bring up his time sparring with him in the early 70's. Larry also might mention someone who was there to get away like Zanon or Rodriguez.

Best Chin : Tex Cobb. Ray Mercer and Oliver McCall might (and should) get shout outs, though

Strongest : Cobb or Mercer. Some might expect him to mention Holyfield, but Larry immediately mentioned in the corner in the early rounds of their fight that he was stronger than Evander. I don't think Holyfield's strength left much of an impression on Holmes.

Best Boxing Skills : Holyfield or Norton. Evander was obviously very rounded and Norton was pure hell for Larry.

Smartest : Norton or Spinks. Norton for the fight he gave Larry and the way he was able to work him. Spinks because he was able to surprise Holmes on multiple occasions. I believe Holmes said something along the lines of "Spinks throws an uppercut when you think he's going to jab, he throws a left hook when you expect a right cross"

Overall : Norton. Larry has pretty regularly said it was his toughest fight and it's clearly who he's most proud of beating

 

How do you figure Cooney was physically stronger than Mercer, Cobb, and hoylfield? He was a little gangly and awkward with some flab and never demonstrated tremendous strength in clinches or pushing. He was just a tall guy who could hit hard.