What were Larry Holmes weaknesses?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Scott Cork, May 8, 2021.



  1. fists of fury

    fists of fury Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Nice interview with Holmes.
    Larry makes some good points, but like all fighters, he talks his fair share of crap.
     
  2. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    He had few, but he was ultimately neither fish nor fowl.

    He wasn't defensive enough, to beat the greatest offensive fighters in history.

    He perhaps wasn't offensive enough, to beat the best defensive fighters in history.

    That meant that there were a lot of ways, to make a fight with him competitive, and it showed!
     
  3. swagdelfadeel

    swagdelfadeel Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Excellent post. I believe @JohnThomas1 has expressed similar thoughts.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2021
  4. Richard M Murrieta

    Richard M Murrieta Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Larry Holmes in his prime years as champion was technically sound, very confident, and had a very punishing left jab while utilizing lateral movement, could take a punch. Holmes had better than average stamina, his title bouts were 15 rounds. But I believe in some of his bouts he was overconfident, and susceptible to a hard right hand, Earnie Shavers, Mike Weaver, and Renaldo Snipes. we are talking prime years.
     
  5. RockyJim

    RockyJim Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Susceptible to the right hand...
     
  6. Unforgiven

    Unforgiven VIP Member banned Full Member

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    I don't think he had any weaknesses.
    He was way above average in every department, except punching power where he was average.
     
  7. THE BLADE 2

    THE BLADE 2 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    No weaknesses. A complete fighter
     
  8. Glass City Cobra

    Glass City Cobra H2H Burger King Full Member

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    While his legendary heart speaks for itself, the truth is Larry looked pretty sloppy when badly hurt and didn't have particularly great defense or survival skills. It was often sheer grit that allowed for him to avoid getting stopped. He was not the best clincher and when he covered up there were plenty of gaps in the guard. Look at how Witherspoon was lighting him up with shots from multiple angles.
     
  9. RulesMakeItInteresting

    RulesMakeItInteresting Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I absolutely agree overall, Chris.

    You're right, my friend. Shouldn't have left Holy out.
     
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  10. RulesMakeItInteresting

    RulesMakeItInteresting Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I sympathize with this, but I do have to cite the Mercer (and to a less effective degree, the Holyfield) matches as at times striking displays of defensive intelligence. It does bear mentioning that for some reason Larry seemed to get better defensively later in his career (well, in some, specific ways). Maybe the Tyson fight made him clean his act up from that perspective.
     
  11. Glass City Cobra

    Glass City Cobra H2H Burger King Full Member

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    If getting nailed by Tyson doesn't motivate you to work on defense, I don't think anything will!
     
  12. fists of fury

    fists of fury Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I don't think Holmes had much choice but to go to the ropes against Holyfield and Mercer. His legs were gone.
    It's awfully hard to look good against a guy using this tactic.
    But you need good defensive awareness and a good deal of toughness to go to the ropes like that.
     
  13. Unforgiven

    Unforgiven VIP Member banned Full Member

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    The idea that Holmes had weak defense is a new one on me, I must say. :lol:
     
  14. It's Ovah

    It's Ovah I'm your huckleberry, that's just mah game Full Member

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    Tendency to get drawn into firefights against shorter, slower, or cruder men.

    Falling short with his jab or right cross.

    Weakness to good jabs and occasionally switching off to big shots that he should have blocked or evaded.

    Fighting flat-footed and letting opponents come into his wheelhouse when he had the ability to keep them at range.
     
  15. RulesMakeItInteresting

    RulesMakeItInteresting Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    He was excellent at moving in particular. The problem really was head movement, he seemed to lose that progressively from right around 1980 on.

    To me, Holmes would have put Cooney away MUCH sooner had he the head movement he exhibited against Shavers in 1978. Cooney shouldn't have landed half of what he did.

    I mean, Larry still had amazing skills, but that one had eroded.
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2021