Eh, I told djanders that I believed it qualified as an amateur competition, assuming the Army was officially organizing it. I will leave it up to him whether he considers that it fits. Pretty sure you can change votes at any time.
I wish there was footage of his sparring with Frazier. He's basically admitted Frazier beat the **** out of him, but I'd love to see it. Old man Holmes turned out to be really good at fighting up close, with an ability to throw hard uppercuts with zero room to work. Wonder where he developed that.
Larry can win this maybe 2 out of three times, but the right hand of Rocky would be too much of an obstacle over 15 in at least one fight. Maybe even the first one. ken Norton was a slow, poor mans version of Rocky - albeit bigger and with less whiskers… and he nearly beat Larry. The prime one. nobody is going to convince me that the crucial element for Ken against Larry was size. It was a technical and strategic fight until the brawl in the last 3 rounds..which would have suited Rocky a whole lot more! The smaller, more advanced version with bigger work rate and power is a real threat to Larry. A serious one.
Semantics maybe but he never fought for the actual title in the ring. It was actually months later when the title was gifted to Norton. Sorry mate but there's no argument to be made that Norton was at his best around the time of Young and Holmes. He wasn't over the hill and was still very good but not a chance he's the man he was 3 or 4 years prior. He was a lot like Holmes tho in that he stayed quite effective as he aged and there was no big fast drop off. His win over Ali was a touch over 5 years prior and Foreman had obliterated him more than 4 years earlier. A year after the Holmes war he couldn't beat Scott LeDoux and got sat down twice. The Young fight was extremely close and fans are basically split down the middle as to who won. Nothing in it.
I hate to go against Rocky, I've respect for the man, but unless by a miracle, I see Him getting his face busted up and cut. Holmes tko 10.
I think if you injected the pace and power of Marciano into Ken Norton, even if you made him that bit smaller to do it, then ken really would have beaten Larry Holmes.
You think Rocky was faster than the Norton Holmes fought? You do know that was one of the greatest heavyweight fights ever? How about if Larry was fighting Norton without a torn left biceps muscle? Do you think that might have impacted on his performance at all? The reviews of the fight described Norton as being,"at the end of his prime" ,not past it. Norton was so washed up he was favourite to win and the fight is rated among the greatest ever.See below. Norton, who was at the end of his prime during this bout, was a 6 to 5 favorite. Norton's purse was $2.3 million and Holmes' was $300,000. There was a sellout crowd of 5,600 at the Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion. The fight was televised by ABC in prime time. When Norton defeated Jimmy Young in a 15-round WBC title eliminator in November 1977, he became the mandatory challenger for the winner of the February 1978 fight between World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks, which Spinks won in a huge upset. When Spinks decided to give Ali an immediate rematch, the WBC stripped him of the title and awarded it to Norton. When Norton lost the title to Holmes in his first defense, he became the only heavyweight champion in history never to win a world title fight. After winning the title, Holmes said he injured his left arm five days before the fight when sparring partner Luis Rodriguez hit him in the left bicep with an elbow. From then on, Holmes didn't spar. That raised questions. Trainer Richie Giachetti told the press Holmes wasn't sparring because he was too sharp. After the fight, Giachetti revealed the injury. Holmes was examined by a specialist and underwent therapy for four days prior to the fight. After defeating Norton, Holmes held the WBC title until 1983. He vacated the title after a dispute with the WBC and promoter Don King over a mandatory title defense against No. 1 contender Greg Page. Holmes then accepted recognition as champion by the newly-formed IBF and held their title until 1985. Holmes defended the title against 19 fighters, the second most in history behind Joe Louis (21). Holmes is the third longest reigning heavyweight champion in the history of boxing, behind Joe Louis (1937-1949) and Wladimir Klitschko (2006-2015). Holmes vs. Norton was ranked as the 10th greatest heavyweight fight of all time by Monte D. Cox, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO). The 1998 Holiday Issue of The Ring Magazine ranked Holmes 5th and Norton 22nd on the list The 50 Greatest Heavyweights of All-Time. The March 2001 issue of The Ring Magazine ranked the final round of Holmes vs. Norton 7th on the list The 12 Most Exciting Rounds In Boxing History.
Marciano fought his best opponents : Louis in1951 Louis began his career in1934 Charles in1954 Charles began his career in1940 Walcott in1953 Walcott began his career in1930 Moore in1955 Moore began his career in1935 And you have the bare -faced audacity to describe Norton as "ancient "when he fought Holmes? Congratulations,joke of the week so far! NB Marciano's best opponents Louis Walcott Charles Moore Lastarza Layne 4 of the 6 older Average age 32 Holmes best opponents Witherspoon Spinks Cooney Norton Shavers Williams 2 of the 7 older Average age 28
Yes near identical in both aspects to Louis - Marciano. Norton was a razor slim 6-5 favorite, virtually even money. Holmes had plenty of knockers at this point and indeed for some time after. Plenty thought he had a suspect chin and some even thought he lacked heart dating all the way back to his amateur career. These factors and others went into the odds, obviously. This fight went a long way to silencing such trains of thought but gaining full respect took years more for many. The joys of following an Ali. Ironically Joe Louis was favored over Marciano by virtually the same odds, a little more in fact. I believe Louis was also rated the #2 heavyweight as Norton was.
yes. Marciano fought at a much higher pace and was faster than the Norton Larry fought. You put Marcianos punches into the openings Ken had in that fight, with the workrate of Rocky and it’s a much harder fight for Holmes than Ken gave him. no I don’t. Larry put up an amazing fight against Ken. If that Left bicep was torn Larry went through the pain barrier to land and throw as many jabs with it as he ever did. so what.
Except Louis was 37 years old ,3 years older than Norton , had been fighting for 17 years , had a 4 years hiatus during at time because of the War, was never the same fighter after and would retire immediately after the Marciano fight.
