When was Larry Holmes at his best?

Larry still really did look great against Cobb. I remember saying to my Dad "I can't believe Cobb is able to go on after all those perfect punches" and my Dad said "if Earnie Shavers couldn't knock Cobb out, Holmes sure as hell won't". In fact, he looked SO good that to this day I wonder if even that, latter era Larry could have beaten, let's say, 1987 Tyson.

I wanted to mention also...Shavers actually did seem like an improved fighter in that 2nd Holmes fight, at least in the first half. He was doing some more than acceptable bobbing and weaving, and made Larry miss more than it might seem barring closer inspection.

Earnie was a better fighter, at his best, than many people seem to give him credit for around here. Not an ATG, but still a very good one.

 

Pretty much every fighter has excuses .. torn bicep, flu, etc but Holmes had terrific moxie. Heart. He could and did comeback and fight and win .. over Norton, Weaver and Shavers .. his prime to me was Evangelista to Cooney ...

 

I'd call Earnie good instead of very good. A guy like Witherspoon would be more in the "very good" category for me. Loads of guys were better than Earnie even if he did have that equalizer particularly against lesser opponents.

Holmes looked great against Tex but to be fair Tex did fit right into the heart of Holmes sweetspot. He did put a clinic on him tho.

 

Maybe Weaver, too.

 

He's a little bit closer to it than Earnie for me but still mayyyybe short.

I'd put Norton there i think tho the odd bloke might consider him higher. Unlucky but he didn't quite reach the lower great stage for me.

Getting away from heavyweight to make it easier i'd put Rodrigo Valdes in the very good. I think i'd put Starling there as well. DeJesus and Buchanan at the top end of VG. Rosario VG, Camacho for a short time, Qawi and probably Ceuvas.

 

What a beat down. Though Cossel's ranting came off as self serving and a glory hound. He was right, that fight should've been stopped as early as the 8th rd.

 

Weaver gave Holmes his toughest fight prior to Witherspoon .. Weaver was the type of fighter that could rise to an occasion .. he fought the fight of his life against Holmes and Larry was not 100 percent be if sickness or lack of focus .. it was supposed ti be a joke the fight .. no one wanted it on TV and HBO only took it because Duran Palomino was on the undercard but that is the fight that sold the show .. Holmes was severely tested and showed tremendous heart by rallying to take the fight .. it was a brutal war for quite a while .. Weaver is one of the great, under rated two handed power punchers and he really landed on Holmes a few times .. a classic fight for sure ..

 

Yes Weaver had just found his feet at this stage and was fighting well above what his previous record would indicate.

 

He also had time to train, a training camp and was highly motivated. Weaver was a talented but lazy fighter early n his career. Training and encouragement w Norton began to motivate him a bit.

 

Absolutely. He gained confidence and belief as well. He said that book turned him around too.

 

I think the Cooney fight was the peak, and as mentioned, with hindsight, he was never quite the same after.


He was so focused going into that fight, seemingly with the mentality of a hungry challenger, but with his physical skill at a near peak, and a lot of experience.

 

78-81

 

I would add that I think the best version of Holmes I saw was the one, who faced Shavers for the first time.

That was about as clinical a 12-round shutout I have seen in Heavyweight Boxing.

Holmes, prior to that bout, was still a bit of an unknown quantity, while Shavers had recently had a championship bout and done better than expected against Ali, over 15. His reputation for punch power had received a boost from that performance, as well - and so, Holmes knew he was going in with a still dangerous opponent. (I believe Holmes has since said that he really had not wanted to fight Shavers, but knew it was his only way to the championship.)

Holmes composure, concentration, movement, delivery were all quite brilliant against a Shavers, who remained an offensive threat, throughout.

 

Rez what dozen of bone rattlers did Shaver's land ? Either Holmes has the greatest chin of all time shaking off dozen's of Shavers bombs or your a bit confused here .. I have not watched the full fight in years but pretty clearly remember Holmes not getting hit on the button flush more than a few times in each bout between their two fights and winning clearly twenty two of the twenty three rounds they were in the ring together .. of course Shavers was very dangerous as he was pumped up for both fights .. the first coming off a huge performance against Ali and the second coming off his crushing KO of Norton .. Earnie never had more confidence or better financed training camps .. he did come to fight and when in shape he was a technically sound fighter with a long reach and monster power .. Ali took severe punishment against Shavers .. so much so that the Garden announced after they would never again host an Ali bout and the Shavers fight is referred too as the one that out Ali over the edge from a punishment standpoint ..

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