Prime Larry Holmes post 2010.

I think a peak Holmes would be world champion today without doubt,
He has all the tools including Chin to beat Usyk, wilder, Klitschos, Fury, potentially stop them all.
Holmes had the jab, power, chin and Stamina but also a tremendous fighting heart. That's the Reason why he is in everyone's top 5
All IMO that is

 

My definition of "ducking" is different than yours, by your logic everyone is a duck.

The number one contenders he didn't fight with were Coetzee, Dokes and Thomas. Coetzee and Dokes' situations were entirely on Don King and his shenanigans. Thomas is the one guy you can actually argue Larry avoiding.

H2H-wise Larry had one of the most impressive title reigns, actually.

 

Your definition of "ducking" is considered different than Holmes as well.

Also Page, who was his mandatory in '83. Holmes instead fought..... Marvis who was unranked by any organization to my knowledge.

Fixed it for you.

 

What's that supposed to mean? Holmes didn't avoid anyone until he was like 34-35.

He got paid 0.6 millions more. A year later Page lost to Bey, who A YEAR later lost to Holmes via TKO. I love how people trash on Don King daily then criticize fighters like Larry for not letting him rip them off. Go blame Don King for not giving the guy his worth, and Page for not being able to go more than a year without losing to a random journeyman.

Can you name other champions with better title defenses than Witherspoon, Cooney, Smith, Shavers, Weaver, Bey, Berbick etc etc? With ALL of them being in their prime as well?

 

He was never about the glory or the legacy, not until post-Tyson anyway. He was about maximizing his earning potential, setting himself and his family up financially. Didn’t give a rats ass about anything else. Why risk the 0 when he was offered an easier fight (and a new belt!) for the same money?

As an old guy he was chasing a belt for legacy, but before then? He was chasing a bank account.

 

Not everyone. Wlad didn't do it. He actually lost a title to his number 1 contender. When he was 39 at that.

 

He openly admitted to doing it, and, much like Bowe later with Lewis, surrendered a belt rather than fighting Page.

Nor does matter who they later lost to.

This is delusional.

 

He didn't avoid them because they were King fighters. He already stated why he avoided them and it had sweet **** all to do with King. Why are you putting words in his mouth? "I want a lot of money and no more of those big hitters like Tim Witherspoon and Mike Weaver," said Holmes, narrowing the field to almost nobody. "I've paid my dues, and if they want me back, they've got to give me little people I can beat on without getting hurt."

Spoon was not prime, he was still green. Holmes and CO didn't think he'd be nearly as good as he was and picked him because he was coming off a questionable decision against Snipes. It was a cherry pick that nearly went wrong.

Cooney hadn't fought in over a year and his rust effected him in the second half of the fight at which point he would've led on two scorecards without the fouls.

Weaver was 19-8 and had just lost to Leroy Jones less than a year prior.

As for him beating a prime Bey, congratulations? So did a shot Joe Bugner, Briggs (who stopped him earlier than holmes), Smith, and obscurities like Johnny Du Plooy. Am I supposed to be impressed?

 

I’m starting to wonder if this Southpaw guy isn’t Holmes himself. Then again, even Holmes had the guts to admit when he was ducking tougher opponents—unlike this guy—so probably not.

 

That's a crazy take. Tell me de la hoya started ducking people later in his career

 

Yeah I already explained the context 30 times, I don't really care if you choose to ignore it. Guess Page should have stayed consistent more and not get KO'd by journeymen. But of course, he'd surely be a threat to Holmes, after all he only got KO'd by Mark Wills twice and his ass beat all over the ring by Bey who got stopped by Holmes. What a duck man.

 

Do you even read the quotes you use? Larry said that after he beat Bey, when he was 47-0 and 35 years old. Those #1 contenders he "avoided" were years before, and it wasn't even his fault. Dokes fight fell apart because Don King used a rematch clause which forced Dokes to rematch Weaver instead of having a bout with Holmes. They drew this time, and Dokes went on to lose to Coetzee after that. Coetzee fight fell apart because they couldn't raise a penny. Thomas is the only #1 contender that Larry suspiciously didn't fight.

Expect Witherspoon and Cooney put on one of the best performances in their career against Holmes, maybe even the best.

Weaver was ranked #4 in 1979, had beaten Mercado and Stan Ward (who beat him right before Leroy Jones did).

Yes, because you are crying that Holmes didn't fight Page when Bey already beat the guy and lost to Holmes right after.

 

At the top in around usyks level
I'm not sure who's better, they are similar sized with some differences

I know larry beats the rest not named usyk, but usyk is the question mark for me. I could see both guys beating the other.

 

There is NO context. He never unified, he never fought a #1, and bragged about ducking people. THERE IS NO CONTEXT.