Well alot of people thought Witherspoon vs Holmes was controversial, i had Holmes winning the fight aswell and i agree the commentating was bad. But Thomas did have an easier time vs Witherspoon than Holmes did, Thomas soundly outboxed Witherspoon in a competitive but clear win, put it this way no one thought Thomas/Witherspoon was controversial like Holmes/Witherspoon was. I don't really see how drawing with Coetzee is a bad thing, Coetzee was pretty highly rated he was ranked number 3 i believe at the time. And in his very next fight went on to destroy 26-0 Michael Dokes. Your talking about 1979 when he lost to Dokes, that has no relevance on what were discussing here, i'm talking about when Pinklon Thomas in 1984-1985 period was rated number 1, and was a deserving challenger to Holmes. Instead Holmes fought the likes of Bey, Williams, Bonecrusher Smith, you can't honestly tell me these guys were more deserving than Pinky during this period. Your argument is Pinky was only "Hot" for a brief period, but yet i've already stated Thomas was number 4 in 83, number 1 in 84, number 1 in 85 that's a good 3 year window. I mean Holmes had no problem fighting novices like Frazier, Williams, Bonecrusher, Bey. But yet wouldn't fight number 1 guy Pinklon Thomas, nor would he fight his number 1 contender Greg Page in 83, opting to fight the likes of Marvis Frazier and Scott Frank. Were Marvis Frazier and Scott Frank more deserving than Greg Page ? The fact is Holmes after the Witherspoon fight, in which he thought would be easier. Based on Witherspoon looking poor against Snipes and Witherspoon being a novice at the time. Turned out to be a very tough nights work, and as Holmes was getting ever closer to Marciano's record. He opted for easier defences after the Witherspoon scare, rather than fighting some of the more deserving and dangerous challengers. Lastly i can't find the quote at the moment, but there is a direct quote from Larry Holmes himself saying "I'm never gonna fight Pinklon Thomas" so make of that what you will.
A battle pf primes between Holmes and Thomas would be scintillating at the very least. Man that division was stacked with talent from top to bottom in the 1980's. Very underrated and I feel if you take the best 10 heavies from that era compared to the best in the 90's, I might have to favor the 80's bunch. Incredible fighter, Pinkie was. That jab rivals the best in the division's history. Anyways, I like Tyson over Thomas at any point in their careers.
Mike would have had it much harder, but of course won. Probably harder than against Tucker. The portion of the actual Tyson Thomas fight that showcased Thomas coming on would have been extended, and Mike would have had major problems with the jab, plus Thomas would be earning a lot of respect with the right. In fact, Thomas would have been ahead on all the scorecards until he gets badly staggered in the middle rounds. He manages to maintain barely enough to make it to the 12th round (the jab is still working, but he's throwing it and holding and scared off from throwing the right anymore). In that last round he gets caught by the uppercut to head and body combination, beat all over the ring and barely avoids getting stopped. Mike by a clear UD, as Thomas loses two rounds by 10-8 and generally looks WAY less impressive (more like a jab and hold survivor) in the second half of the fight.
Holmes's loses IMO he was ready to be taken at that point, that's why Holmes after the Witherspoon scare wanted easier defenses, so he could equal Marciano's record and ride off into the sunset. Many people forget that Spinks was a cherry pick gone wrong.
Larry couldn't have beaten Pinky at that stage imo. Williams had a real good jab (not as good as Thomas'), and though I think Truth had better overall movement Thomas could hit a lot harder with the right hand and had a better chin. Larry loses a fairly clear UD, very much unlike the Williams fight where Carl blew it in the last few rounds. In fact, this would have been a much clearer loss for Larry than the first Spinks fight (which could have been a draw, really).
Good man Rules I know your fan of Holmes like myself, but you tell how it is that's how I see it aswell. Holmes was ready to be taken at that point. And Thomas was on a roll, I do think Thomas hit fairly hard with the right hand aswell though, I remember him having a few noteworthy stoppages with the right hand, and not just the known one vs Weaver. Thomas was also far more durable than Williams aswell, even Tyson literally had to literally nail Thomas to the floor with a dozen or so unanswered clean punches.
More of the same, the only improvement i can see Thomas making would be a distance fight where he would take further punishment, i loved Pinky & hate watching his fight with Tyson, he took an awful beating which attributed towards his decline, fine fighter he was.
