My tentative middleweight top 10

Fair call SS for sure. Holmes had a couple of surprising struggles but that is probably always going to happen stylistically, where as a Tyson will decimate such opposition but of course isn't neccessarily a better fighter.

 

True, true. And sometimes its harder to fight lesser opponents than it is to fight higher quality ones, given that the focus isn't always there for the lower calibre guys. I think in Holmes case this was quite relevant. When he put his mind to it or had a real perceived threat he used to perform better than when the threat of defeat wasn't there.

 

Completely agree, vs dangerous hitting guys like Shavers and Cooney, even if limited, Holmes was 100% ready to go. Guys like Witherspoon and Weaver sometimes got under his guard so to speak.