The great limit of Larry Holmes

I don’t think so. Power doesn’t come from no where. Be it fast twitch muscle or location of muscle on the bone, chances are if Larry had more power he’d have been a little slower in his prime. Think 2002 Lennox. What made Larry Holmes great was the multi purpose jab. Flicker, rhythm breaker or power jab used to guide people into position for his right. Take away some speed and he’s not the same.

 

No, he had more than enough power in his underrated right hand to complement his overall boxing skills and style.

 

Stats and figures don’t always tell the whole story though the 40+ opponents that he did stop, were undoubtedly impressed by the impact or at least the accumulative effect of his punches.

Still, if you are someone who is easily impressed by KO percentages and stats, it may be worth remembering that Holmes, still jointly holds the longest consecutive knockout/stoppage streak in world title defences in heavyweight history.

 

Tim Witherspoon said Holmes couldn’t fight on the inside

 

Holmes main deficiencies were his lack of a left hook, no inside game, and he always dropped his jab and he over relied on his jab. His right had pop.

 

You know Harry, you could almost be describing Ali here as well though I think Holmes had a stronger right hand and Ali the quicker feet.

 

Tell that to Mike Weaver.

Larry was held back a bit by his power, but moreso having a certain (overall winning) formula to his fighting. There's a reason he had serious trouble with unorthodoxy: as Atlas stated, Larry was consistent, which was a double edged sword for him. If a fighter had a pretty typical style (Cooney, Jones, LeDoux) he'd smack the crap out of him.

The Leon fight, taken place during Larry's undeniable peak, is a good example Spinks was bringing to him a very weird style, and Larry seemed to be at the edge of serious complications...until he got pissed off.

He also had a problem with temper, and unlike above it could work against him. Berbick was a great example: that fight was far more a great display of Larry at his peak than most would give him credit for. But it lasted too long because Berbick got to him psychologically (I daresay the Ali fight was the same, in that case I think Larry carried Ali a bit though).

Michael Spinks took advantage of both (the pissing-Larry-off thing was most in evidence during the second fight, which again should have ended early except Spinks' slipperiness aggravated the hell out of Larry).

 

Holmes lacked a good left hook, he was essentially a jab and right cross guy with an all time great right uppercut.

 

This is true. The left hook was fairly solid, but never exactly won a fight for him. Excellent right hook though (ask Evangelista).

When it comes to punch-for-punch comparisons, Ali had a much better left hook (yet nowhere near as good an uppercut). I have to give the jab to Larry as well (though arguments are well-founded) and the cross I give to Larry (the latter in terms of heaviness, not accuracy).

Ali was far more of a great combination guy than Larry ever was (especially in terms of stop-cold effectiveness). Larry excelled at the old one-two. Ali also had the ring movement all day over Larry (though Larry was no joke in that dept. mostly in the 70s).

 

No. Ali was head and shoulders a greater fighter than Larry. Ali was a much more complete boxer. Quicker, much more athletic, more diversified, quicker two fisted combinations, not open to right hands. Ali had a great left hook and he threw it perfectly in combinations.

 

I mostly disagree (especially with Ali being a head and shoulders better fighter), but I respect your opinions completely.

 

Ali was always extremely open for the left hook, and that most certainly goes for 60s Ali as well as after.

It's most evident in the FOTC...it amazes me Ali just seemed to refuse to keep his right hand up.