Prime: Larry Holmes .Vs. Prime: Mike Tyson

Larry: Narrow UD. Close fight. :good

 

Great Question. Im not about to go into long details but I will ponder two questions for the forum..........


A. When Larry Holmes gets stunned by tyson, will he go back into his bad habit of trying to brawl his way out when hurt?

B. If that jab of holmes starts finding his mark on tyson, Will tyson erupt and get off his game and allow larry to control tempo, or will he calmly mechanically follow the game plan of working in close and mid range sacrificing himself to take the jab at times in order to mix the combos to the head and body and look for that opening right hand.

 

I don't know, it would be interesting. Would probably end with Tyson ko4 Holmes.

 

Holmes TKO late or points. The mental aspect must be taken into consideration. Holmes was mentally tougher than Tyson.

 

Holmes anywhere between 1978-1982 would have a good chance of stealing a win from Tyson, but he'd have to give the very best performance of his career in order to do it in my opinion. He couldn't afford to get careless or sloppy like he did against Weaver, Shavers or Snipes. Tyson was a lot more dangerous than any of those three, and if he got Holmes in that kind of trouble, would likely finish him.

 

D'Amato specifically trained Tyson to beat Larry Holmes and his type of fighters.

50-50 fight .

 

I think I would go with Tyson to catch up with him eventualy and close the deal. Tyson would trap him eventualy and Holmses chin would not be enough to save him.

 

... like he did against Bonecrusher Smith and Tucker ya mean.

Prime for prime this is a very close fight IMO maybe close enough to call 50/50, but I think Larry's ringsmarts, jab and durability coupled with boxing skill will see him shade it. I truthfully struggle to see Tyson landing enough significant heavy leather to stop a younger version of Holmes. I could be wrong but that's how I see it.

 

I could see Holmes winning a D.

Of course, I can also see Holmes being dropped on his ass.

 

Tyson was trained from a very young age to beat Larry Holmes.

 

Id say Holmes was mentally tougher than most as well, not everyone is gonna tell a guy with a gun to his face to "Put that god damn thing down, your not gonna do **** with it" or something along those lines.

 

You nailed this one. I agree completely.

 

Holmes was tough, Tyson wasn't. Well he was to a certain extent. But Holmes could take it better than Tyson and come back stronger throughout the course of a fight. Holmes got up from two devastating knockdowns close to his prime against Shavers and Snipes. Shavers' right hand landing flush on Holmes was the best recovery of a knockdown I have ever seen.

Yes, Holmes was KO'd for the first time in his career by Tyson himself. But he had been inactive and was past his prime. If that isn't a good enough excuse, then surely Tyson being KO'd by Lewis and Williams must be looked at in similar circumstances.

 

What indication is there that Holmes was tougher than Tyson?

Is it because he got up from 1 punch Knockdown's from Earnie Shavers and Renaldo Snipes in fights where he was already winning?

Holmes never took a steady beating that was resulted in a knockdown, because if he did chances are he would not have been able to continue. Holmes got caught by a well timed punch both times got dropped and got right back up to continue dictating the pace of a fight he was already winning.

In contrast when Tyson hit the floor it was usually because it was preceeded by heavy punishment resulting in a knockdown and knockout. Very different situation.

Anyway I give the nod to Mike.....he was practically trained to fight guys like Larry Holmes. The right hand would always find its mark.

Tyson TKO 8