Mike Tyson v Larry Holmes, the broadcast

For Gods sake man your again acting like Holmes was prime for Spinks lol. Heres one last thing. Tyson had quite in him. Holmes didnt. So for the last time and I'm done. Prime for prime Holmes spanks him. That's my opinion and I'm done and moving on. I have much much better things to do today

 

Well think of it this way, an older Holmes coming off a layoff lasted four rounds with a prime Tyson. I’d imagine a prime Holmes with better pop, athleticism, and movement would last at least double that. Tyson did a lot better early on, I don’t think it’s far fetched to say that prime Holmes survives the storm and begins to break Tyson down in the later rounds.

 

Thank you for this post, I love these full broadcast videos it gives context back to these fights reminds us of storylines and gives perspective back to the time rather than arguing and discussing what we know now and built up long after

"Hes still got the dexterity to put both feet in his mouth" Larry merchant at his finest

Holmes played a great heel in the build up and his tyson will be in prison line turned out correct

I liked the tyson Rooney work and drills and monotony for greatness. As great of access as YouTube and reporting has gotten I feel these old hype ups are way better than anything now

 

Watch it again my friend ... Holmes was just fighting to survive ... Bonehugger Smith lasted 12 with Tyson trying to survive via holding ... Mitch Green lasted 10 doing the same thing ...

Prime Larry would have more confidence in his ability and open up offensively and would have been out of there by the middle rounds Id say. And he wasn't one to avoid trading in his prime.

Tyson did slow down in latter rounds but still had supreme KO ability. Holmes isn't the right guy to beat prime Tyson. Guys like Liston, Foreman or Ali would give him more problems and could beat him ... Lewis with Steward in his corner , V. Klitschko, roided out cheating Holyfield would also do decent against Tyson.

 

My dad grew up in the 70s so he talks about his boxing stories of the time and he hated Holmes and hated him even more when he beat ali

Always quoted the rocky couldn't hold my jock and they can kiss me where the son dont shine

He was at a closed circuit showing of Holmes cooney and wasn't looking when holmes went down he went nuts but then realized it was a low blow

I like the full card replays where do the build up, undercard and main event though it's hard to come by

 

It was interesting to watch that fight for the first time in at least 25 years because my memory of it was very different than it really was. I thought that it ended in the 3rd and that Larry got caught and dropped while he was dancing.
I think now that the minute on his toes cost Holmes the fight,or, probably more accurately, caused it to end sooner rather than later. Holmes got on his toes, but then he had to take a rest. He stood still, he didn't escape to his right like he had been, and he wasn't grabbing Mike on the way in. He let him get closer before getting a hold on him and paid for it.

He also drew the blueprint that Douglas built from; put a sharp jab out there to make Tyson react, then time the reaction with a right hand or an uppercut. When he stands up straighter, longer, to think about what you are doing, you can land the jab. I wonder how much Holmes sparred for the fight because he was off on his timing. Granted, some of that is attributable to the reflexes of Tyson, but Mike wasn't doing anything deceptive or imaginative. He was just faster.

 

Larry Holmes vs Mike Tyson was broadcast on Friday, Jan 22 1988 on HBO. Larry had been retired since 1986, he should have remained so. Holmes came the closest to eclipsing the undefeated record of the late and retired Rocky Marciano, 49-0, 43 KO's, when he was defeated by undisputed light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks, on the 30th anniversary of Marciano's defeat of light heavyweight champion Archie Moore, on Sept 21 1955, TKO 9, his last title defense. Mike was in peak condition that night, he caught up to the older and slower Larry Holmes, KO 5.

 

I watched an interview Larry was giving where he described the fight with Tyson. He said it in his half joking/half not joking fashion, leaving it ambiguous, yet he said it how he wanted to (classic post-retirement Larry). He said he figured out Tyson round by round and by the 4th had him ripe for the taking. He said Tyson left himself open for the right uppercut and he reached back to KO him, but his glove got caught in the ropes, and he just had to stand there and let Tyson belt him. It was humorous how he told it, as if the glove getting caught deprived him of a guaranteed KO.

I went and re-watched the fight, and lo and behold, his glove REALLY did get caught in the rope when he reached back for the uppercut! Not that I buy that punch to be the harbinger of Tyson's doom, but it gave me a good laugh to see it, as I missed it when the fight was aired live. But there it was, just as Larry said.

 

I watched this fight in the common area of my dorm freshmen year in college. We didn't have cable in our dorm rooms or suites.There was a bldg attached to the dorm where the RAs lived. It had a TV and a couple of couches in the common area. Practically our whole dorm crowded around the TV -must have been at least 100 people. In fact this is how I watched the Tubbs fight as well a few months later.

 

If you're going to do that, you might have mentioned Tyson getting stopped by Buster when Mike was still somewhat close to his prime (but ****ed up in the head, nevertheless). Holy stopped both Buster and Mike whereas well past his best Larry went the distance with Holy. Jeez I thought this thread was about the commentary and not h2h, and here we are all doing h2h anyway lol.

 

Thanks for sharing. That was classic.

 

Valid point

But that was what it was ... The greatest upset in sports history. It's no secret that Douglas could never duplicate what he did that night in Tokyo ... And Tyson wouldn't show up that under prepared again ...

Tokyo Douglas vs Prime Holmes would have been a very interesting fight ...

 

Good point. Buster was very talented, but known as the classic underachiever: great skills but no dedication. I seem to remember his mom dying just before the fight and his partially using that as motivation. But I believe prime Larry would have jabbed Tokyo Douglas' head off.