Which of Holmes Opponents Would Pose Problems For Liston?

Not one.
In fact Liston wins against all of Holmes championship
opponents dominantly with exception of possibly
Tyson, or Holyfield.

 

tyson ko 1

 

Witherspoon. I would say Weaver if he had a better chin.

 

Liston would quit on his stool vs. Ocasio.

 

Liston beat some good contenders but in reality he only made 2 title defences and he'd need to win 10 times the amount of world title fights to replicate Holmes's run.

Liston was already aging when he won the title so logically Liston isn't going to have the longevity to win 20 world title fights.

 

I assume we're leaving aside the obvious names (Ali, Tyson, Holyfield) and looking at just his title run (leaving aside shot Ali) ?

 

Spinks

 

I'm referring to the best versions of Liston, meeting the best versions of
Holmes' opponents.
Which is the gist of the question. Not the actual historical event
surrounding Liston.

 

Okay but does that include Ali (whom Liston fought twice in his prime) or the greats Holmes lost to after his title reign (Tyson and Holyfield) ?

 

Does this include all his opponents or just the ones he beat ???? I'm assuming the latter.

Snipes, Cooney, Witherspoon, Mercer those are all competitive. Liston runs through everyone else

 

I don't like doing that because it's just not a realistic scenario.

Liston had a say 5 year window when he was competing at a good level so let's just compare Liston's overall form during that period amongst Holmes's 7 year reign.

 

Ali beat Liston twice....

Norton's power is really underrated. He'd give Liston a couple of good punches at least. Shavers would give him trouble with that power and that great chin.

Cobb would possibly go the distance.

Berbick would be slippery and box well until he gets caught in the third.

Michael Spinks is the most likely candidate to actually beat him.

 

Most would disagree with Ali fought a " prime " Liston.
Personally, I believe his prime was from late 1958 to about 1962. I don't believe I'd get many arguments against that opnion. (And only God knows how old he actually was)
Granted, I don't believe even a prime version of Liston beats a prime Ali.
Ali was something never seen before or since he entered world class boxing.
But my opinion is Liston wrecks most top ten heavyweights contenders ( note, not champions) in history.
Yes, that includes all of Holmes championship defenses.
And yes that definitely would include Mike Spinks, who I believe Liston would destroy maybe 10 seconds longer than it took Mike Tyson .