Should Larry Holmes be given credit for winning the WBO belt in 1992?

He gets credit for outclassing an undefeated titlist and former gold medalist when he was 806-years-old. That's good enough.

 

If only Mercer hadn't relinquished the WBO belt shortly after beating Morrison, it would have been nice for Holmes to win it aged 42.
His dominant win over undefeated prime Mercer is a very good one, especially considering his advanced age.

 

The WBO heavyweight belt was completely meaningless.

Holyfield was the undisputed champion of the world.

 

Yeah it was a great win and worthy of being a title fight. I haven't seen Mercer-Holmes in awhile so I'm going to check it out pretty soon.

 

Big credit for beating Mercer, dominating him really. The belt however was meaningless-as it is now. Mercer was a good fighter who happened to have had a big shiny bad fashion accessory which wouldn't go through his belt loops.

 

Even Holmes has never claimed such a thing. Beating Mercer the way he did was good enough though, and he did it nearly three years before Foreman upset Moorer. It should also be noted that in doing so, Holmes legitimately earned his shot at Holyfield, where Big George got his two shots at Holyfield and Moorer largely on the strength of name recognition alone.

An argument can be made that Mercer was a more impressive win than Moorer, as Holmes had to sustain it over the 12 round distance, while Foreman played for the big shot. (Incidentally, it was Larry who insisted on retaining the longer limit despite the stripping of Mercer's paper title. This is remarkable considering that Ray had previously dominated two opponents over that duration.)

 

From memory, I don't think Mercer was " stripped " of the belt... I think he renounced it for the sake of going into the rating systems of the other governing bodies who were viewed as far more prestigious at the time.. The WBO was not yet recognized as a true sanctioning organization... In either event, my answer to the question is no.. Mercer no longer had the strap, therefore it wasn't Holmes' to just take..

 

For what it was worth,Holmes deserves the credit for beating the WBO holder. But,as has been said,Evander Holyfield was the true champion at this time.

 

NO credit.......... I love "The Homer" as an ATG to the maxi-pad but, all B.S. aside, the WBO belt was a cheesy piece of bull manure up until 2008 when Wlad Klit lifted it off of Sully Iggy's head in one of the dullest heavyweight title fights over the last 10 yrs.....

The WBO, IBC, IBO and WBF belts are bull**** when you get down to it, but dude's like Lennox Lewis and Wlad Klit have given life to them ******* Jack belts.......

Dudes like: "Damiani, Mercer, Holmes, Morrison, Hide, Bowe, V.K., Byrd and Wlad Klit, Liakhovich, Briggs and Iggy" prior to 2008 either won or wore a WBO belt that was nondescript........

Again, Lennox Lewis and Wlad Klit (second time around) have brought some prestige to the IBO and WBO............

NOTE! NO!!! Holy is not a true champ in 2010 with his WBF belt........ It looks nice, but that's where the buck stops....... BUT! That belt MIGHT just aide Holy into a big fight with a "K" brother........ Pray for Holy's health.........

MR.BILL

 

How can you award credit for beating a title holder, then the said champion wasn't even holding that title?

 

Did Mercer get stripped or did he vacate the WBO to fight Holmes? I know Michael Moorer was the # 1 contender at that time.....

Moorer KO 4 or 5 Berton Cooper........... WBO title of 1992........... Great fight; bogus title fight.......

MR.BILL

 

I guess that in order to to give sombody credit for winning a farcical title belt, you have to respect the farcical customs of said farcical title belt.

Or you can just dismiss the bauble altogether.

 

He gets more credit for beating Mercer. The WBO belt back then was unknown. It has gained more credibility than the WBA now in my opinion.

 

From memory, I believe it was mentioned that Mercer vacated the WBO belt for the sake of being a part of the ratings... If a man was holding the WBO belt, he was not rated by the other sanctioning bodies. Ray was campaining hard for a title shot after beating Morrison, and had he gotten by Holmes, he would have been in the ring with Holy....

Incidentally - I have always suspected Holmes vs Mercer to be fix, from the first time I saw it back in '92