Michael Spinks Weight and Win regarding Holmes. Who else under 200 could beat Holmes?

Agreed.

Its no disrespect to Holmes just an acknowledgment that he was past his best and ready to be taken by a younger fighter.

 

I agree with that, but I still think he beat Spinks both times.

 

True, but it is also no disrespect to think that no other light heavy would have done so. Particularly given what Holmes went on to accomplish after this.

Spinks was one of the best light heavys ever (maybe the best) and i think it took such an ATG light heavy to do the job. Anything less and Holmes would have won.

 

I will grant you that it would be hard to find another career lightheavyweight to do the job, but the terms of this thread allow for anybody under 200 lbs, and that opens the doors for fighters that many people here would favour over Holmes on the best day he ever saw.

 

I'm not so sure. While you may have a point, its not too far out of the question for Roy Jones or Ezzard Charles to have taken an aging Holmes the distance and pulled off a decision. Remember, this was 1985 and Holmes had fallen very far from the days when he anniolated the likes of Gerry Cooney and Leon Spinks. A prime Jones or Charles ( though not as powerful ) were certainly as good or better technicians than Carl Williams and Michael Spinks, and certainly possesed greater speed.

As for your comment about what Holmes accomplished later, there is a huge difference between a very fast tactical hall of fame boxer and a slow moving stationary target like Ray Mercer. In no way shape or form do guys like Spinks, Charles, or Jones have anything in common with some of the fighters Holmes took on in his comeback.

 

Interesting thought though. Do you think that a faster smaller Light heavyweight was actually more likely to see success against Larry at this stage of his career than a slower but bigger heavyweight? Larry was fast and skilled for a heavyweight, but I think the fights you mentioned would be excellent fights that could go either way, but the examples you used are really examples of All time great light heavyweights(probably top 10), which was the point i was making.

What about just a really good Light heavyweight (maybe a top 50 atg). I dont know who might be an example, maybe a young Michael Moorer or someone of similar ilk.

 

To answer your question about boxers vs larger punchers, my response is yes.. Absolutely. look at how Holmes dominated a 6'5" Boncrusher Smith at 34-35 years of age, and then again later against Ray Mercer, but lost to Michael Spinks ( and possibly Carl Williams. )

As for the next question, If we're going to venture too far away from the top 10, then our pickings are going to get rather slim admittedly. The light heavyweight division is loaded with all time great boxers who could have stalked an aging heavyweight champion and pulled off an upset, but no names come to mind at the moment, and Michael Moorer probably wouldn't be one of them.

 

Yeah, Holmes was stale, slow and looking old in the first Spinks fight. I think the Leon who fought Ali might be busy enough and quick enough to nick a close one over that Holmes.

Michael Spinks was better than Leon Spinks, but at light-heavy rather than heavy. Leon beat a few heavyweights who you'd have to rate alongside Steffen Tangstad and a washed-up Cooney. But his career-nosedived into a pile of coke before it really got started, and he ended up a bum.