Muhammad Ali vs Larry Holmes (1978)

Very true. His acting performances in The Greatest and Freedom Road were certainly passable. He could have done a Ken Norton and had a few starring roles in film and TV.

 

I'm not saying that a '78 Ali would n't have given Holmes trouble. He'd have had quite a few moments in the early going,while Holmes would have been a bit nervous.

 

Holmes beats Ali in 1978 but how badly depends on what point of 78 they fought. The Ali of the 1st spinks fight, while clearly out of shape and underestimating spinks, had considerably more left than the Ali of the second fight, who basically danced, jabbed and clinched his way to victory over a spinks who made it easy because his head wasn't on straight and because he didn't train properly.

Against this Ali Holmes still wins handily but not in the fashion that he did in their actual "fight". If the Ali that fought spinks the 1st time was in shape he would have handled spinks easily, most likely scoring a tko victory. This Ali was better able to land the jab, had better timing and was still able to put together good combinations. Against this Ali holmes has a much more difficult time but still wins by 9 rounds to 6.

 

In 1978, Larry Holmes was only 28 years old and was at the peak of his speed, skill, and reflexes, as evidenced by his classic epic fight against Kenny Norton. Muhammad Ali had shown signs of significant decline since April of 1976 commencing with his dreadful performance against Jimmy Young in Landover, Maryland. Ali's decline escalated in 1977 and by 1978, Ali had already shown beginning signs of slurred speech and cognitive decline. In fact, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco saw Ali's decline and therefore left his corner after Ali's grueling fight against Ernie Shavers. The last version of Ali I would pick to beat a prime Holmes was the 1974/1975 Zaire/Manilla Ali and due to his continuos decline from 1976 to 1978, I simply do not believe that Ali could have beaten a prime Holmes during this time period. The 1978 version of Ali was slower, had less stamina, suffered from slurred speech, and although he beat Leon Spinks in New Orleans, he was a shadow of his former self and was only able to prevail due to the inexperience and limited boxing skills of his opponent. Without sufficient hand speed and sharp reflexes, Ali simply could not contend with a prime Holmes in 1978. However, Ali still had a steel chin in 1977 and 1978, as evidenced by his fight against Ernie Shavers, so While Holmes may not have knocked Alit out for the count of 10, I believe that he would have won a one-sided unanimous decision or a TKO anywhere between rounds 11-15.

 

Holmes by nasty UD.

 

Holmes likely by stoppage… he didn’t put Ali away because he could win so easily the first time, he didn’t try to do more then he had to. Interesting thing about that bout Ali was swearing at Holmes the whole time according to Larry and it was repulsive to him as Ali rarely if it all cursed… anyway Ali could mount a bit of an offence so Larry would take zero chances here, he’s not letting Ali look good at all or being told an old man got to him he wins every round up until the 9-10th when the ref stops it, Ali would look like a gargoyle Holmes would be bouncing his skull around like a bobble head and send him into retirement, if Ali hangs in because the ref is a sadist Holmes may accidentally kill him.

 

Honestly, I think the idea of Ali beating Holmes in 1978 is pretty far-fetched. Yeah, Ali looked sharper in the Spinks rematch compared to their first fight, but let’s be real, Spinks wasn’t Holmes. Leon was green, out of shape and mentally checked out for that second bout. Ali used his experience to outpoint him, but it wasn’t exactly a vintage performance.

By '78, Ali’s reflexes and stamina had taken a major hit. You could still see flashes of the old brilliance in spots, like a clean jab or a quick combo, but they were just that, flashes. Holmes, on the other hand, was 28 and coming off that war with Norton. He was sharp, hungry and had one of the best jabs in heavyweight history. That version of Holmes would’ve been all wrong for the version of Ali we had at the time.

Even if Ali tried to dance like he did in a couple of rounds vs Holmes in '80, I don’t think he could’ve kept it up long enough to win rounds consistently. And Holmes wasn’t some wild brawler, he’d be patient, work behind that jab and just gradually rack up points.

So yeah, I respect everything Ali accomplished and he’s one of the all-time greats, no question. But if we're talking 1978 Ali vs 1978 Holmes, I don’t see any way Ali wins that fight. Holmes either takes it by a wide decision or maybe even gets a late stoppage if Ali fades hard in the championship rounds.

 

Ali was over the hill for heaven's sake.

Next.

 

I don’t think Muhammad Ali could beat prime Holmes anytime after about 1974

 

As long as Ali finishes the fight on his feet, he probably wins the decision...