So if Holmes had beaten Michael Spinks (the stars had aligned), and his record went to 49-0 . Two questions. If he'd retired, never came back, not for Tyson or anyone, where does he fit in to the ATG s? If he'd have fought on, who' do you think he'd have fought next?
I think is an ATG top 10 HW RIGHT now , but imo he didn't take Spinks seriously in the 1st fight and rightfully lost it. In the rematch though, Holmes beat Spinks to the punch won more rounds and should have been given the nod on the scorecards. Had he won the rematch there would have no doubt been a rubber match between Holmes and Spinks. Regarding Tyson, I think King would have persuaded him to take that fight either way, he wouldn't have been able to pass up the oppurtunity as he legitimately thought he had a chance of beating him.
If he fought on after beating Spinks, the Heavyweight Unification tournament with Tyson, Tucker, Thomas, Douglas, Tubbs, Witherspoon, etc was just around the corner. Not sure Holmes would have been willing to go through the grind at that point, but if he did, he probably would have been tripped up pretty quickly. He was already a lock for top ten all time either way IMO.
It might have bumped him up a placement on some people’s list. But I think he would always be subject to some scrutiny and criticism over his opposition and often underwhelming performances on a Sidenote: I know this thread is asking us to assume that Holmes retires after getting that 49th win. But for as much as Holmes loved boxing and the money that came with it I think in reality he’d continue. The temptation to keep making millions and then go after Joe Louis’s title fight record would be too much to resist.
I do not think it would have enhanced its ATG status, at least not significantly. Because Holmes beat Spinks cleanly in the rematch. And he went on to have good performances against Mercer, Holyfield and Mc Call at an advanced age. Holmes is No 3 ATG Heavyweight in my book.
I believe the plan had Holmes won the initial encounter with Michael Spinks was for Larry to go for 50-0 against Bernard Benton, a fairly pedestrian guy who won the vacant WBC cruiserweight title on the undercard of Holmes-Spinks I (Michael, not Leon). The cruiserweight division wasn’t established and most of the top cruisers would take paydays against heavyweights (and not even top guys) because they paid more than fighting for or holding the cruiser crown. I’d bet Benton got $50K or less as challenger to Ratliff, who surely didn’t make six figures. With Larry losing to Michael, Benton instead lost to Carlos DeLeon for the cruiser title the next spring, but if he’s available to fight Holmes for 50-0, he’d definitely have had Carlos stand in line — Michael made $900K to fight Holmes, so Benton would surely make $500K as a challenger to Larry. After that, I figure Holmes retires at 50-0. He probably does come back nearly three years later to fight Tyson, only Don King probably has to come off of $5-6M instead of the $3.5M Larry made in reality. And he surely loses (no tuneup or long training camp, same as it played out in real life — but I think this version of Tyson beats that version of Larry regardless). And Larry Holmes probably does his Senior Citizen Tour comeback just as he did in real time, seeing what Foreman was doing and taking that approach. So not much changes. A win over someone like Benton and a zero at the end of his record at the end of his first career doesn’t change his all-time standing IMO. Holmes is pretty much consensus top 10, top 5 or top 3 depending on who’s doing the ranking, and that win doesn’t push him up higher.
I already rank him third. I think if he’d retired 50-0 it would be almost universal that it would be a locked in top three of Ali, Louis, Holmes.
