Muhammed Ali vs Larry Holmes - Abilities breakdown comparison

I think that most people would have favoured a prime Ali to beat a prime Holmes had they actually met at their best but if you compared the two by breaking down their abilities into separate catagories how would each have fared, matched against the other? Let say,

Power
Handspeed
Footspeed
Strength
Chin
Defence
Stamina
Heart
Ring intelligence/adaptability/smarts
Illegal/dirty fighting

 

Great fighters, but Ali is superior in his prime:

Power - even
Handspeed - Ali
Footspeed - Ali
Strength - even
Chin - Ali, clearly
Defence - even
Stamina - even
Heart - even
Ring intelligence/adaptability/smarts - Ali

 

Ali had better feet,and a left hook, Holmes had a right uppercut.
Not much between them I give a wafer thin edge to Ali .
Eddie Futch picked Holmes H2H.

 

Holmes had better jab rt cross and uppercut better defense too. Ali had better footwork was more fluid. Strength stamina and heart even. I give Holmes a slight edge.

 

Have to agree on all. One main factor in a fight between the two, and one seldom thought of, is that Larry often didn't throw punches at a moving target. He would follow until the opponent stopped and then unload and this happened even in their one sided affair. It was similar to Benny Briscoe never learning to punch when while he was slipping punches and why a 60's Ali would winning going away.

 

I agre with BO & Timmers. Except I think their chins were nearly equal, & Holmes likely had a slight edge in power.

It is the left hook that was Ali's vulnerability, Holmes the overhand right.
Ali would be a bit better at exploiting this.
The speed would be a big difference.

Ali UD '64-'67 vs. promie Holmes. comeback through '75, a thin advantage & win for Ali.
Past prime Ali & Holmes-late '70's vs. '84/85: pretty close.

Ali better younger, Parkinson's & wars took him out of the equation, Holmes had a nice Ancient Mariner comeback.

 

Even

 

Defence even ¿ Lol not even close, ali by a mile, ali was better in every departement, end OF the thread

 

Hand speed extremely close? lmao!!! This guy is blind

 

larry holmes was FAST.
watch his 42 year old win over ray mercer, hes quicker than most prime welterweights even at that stage.
Ali too was lightning quick but I honestly feel holmes had slightly more power and quality in his faster shots.
Both had serious chins.
both had great defence and radar. ali's was more fluid, natural and seat of the pants reflex based, but holmes had a way of parrying and smothering attacks, really used his arms and shoulders well.
Ali could throw every shot in the book though again, I give the edge in punch quality to holmes.
Ali could fight dead tired, non stop, round after round in a way ive never seen since.
he beats holmes and everyone else in this category.
both had superb savvy and knew when to come on in a fight.
Neither woud ever quit.
Holmes had the better jab I feel. probably the finest jab ive ever seen. It was quick, unpredictable and more punishing than ali's though ali clearly had a great jab.
Stylewise, I think this fight could go along the following lines: ali circling, feinting jabbing, but I think hed struggle with holmes piercing jab which he'd throw to the chest. Ali would try to come over with the right hand but holmes jab was hard to counter.
But ali being ali would probably solve the problem and start to find his combinations by the middle rounds. holmes being holmes im sure hed be having his own successes too. they box on even terms with shifts and turns along the way until ali pulls away like carl lewis down the stretch. holmes goes with him but ali was a one off in those situations.
Ali wins by 2 rounds, though it wouldn't surprise me much if holmes did it by the same margin

 

holmes beats ali

 

:rofl

 

Ali 64 67 would make Holmes look in slow motion, ali in his prime was much faster and explosive than his 70s version, this ali had much better stoppages than Holmes, so he did hit as hard or harder, actually thr hitting power is the only department debatable here, ali was better in everything,uñ much faster hands much better footwork, better chin, more stamina, better combination puncher, mentally stronger, more confidence in. Himself in bad moments, much better move OF head and much better reflexes, better counter puncher, more accurate, Ali was better in everything in the complete sense OF the word

 

Remember, larry learned his trade v ali in sparring right!!

 

So he would know how to counter all Ali's moves? Is it possible for a hired sparring partner to become good enough to win in a actual fight?