Who was Larry Holmes greatest opponent?

Thanks for your thoughts on that.

 

Holmes is prideful. But he's on record, over and over and over, about caring about money more than anything else, and has said that he took the fight not thinking he could win but because it was 3mm (which is what 6-7mm in today's money). I have no reason to not believe his own words.

 

The fact he was no longer undefeated might have affected his decision. He had already lost his title in the ring so it was just another loss and not the wrecking of an unblemished record.

 

Your opinion, different strokes for different folks.

 

Anytime. How do you think peak for peak meetings would go against Norton and Holyfield?

 

I’ve got Larry solid over Holyfield but always a tough, reasonably close fight nonetheless.

Norton’s a tough one. You’d have to reason that Ken was past his best being just a few months shy of 35, though he did start late in boxing and was always supremely fit in and out of the ring without too much wear:tear.

Norton still looked and performed great but he did flag somewhat a bit in the latter stages. Perhaps a younger Norton would have had more gas in the tank but then again, the fight with Larry was a draining war at any rate.

The actual fight was basically all Larry first 5 rds or so, then Ken pulling all the way back to even up then to and fro to the finish. Holmes left arm was supposed a bit impaired but it didn’t seem to show or impact much.

Interesting that Norton claimed his strategy was to allow Holmes to fire away, let him tire and then Ken would come on - though in mentioning same, Norton also said he felt he erred in letting Larry put away those early rds - but then Ken himself was able to save his energies to come on later in the fight and was still fatigued by fights end.

I think 28 yo Larry was more or less prime but then the Norton fight was perhaps an invaluable learning experience in itself after which Holmes came out that little bit better again as fighter in himself. Norton himself gained from his clashes with Ali.

So, after a number of considerations, causing me to take the scenic route to a “conclusion” LOL - I also think prime v prime Norton and Holmes fights present as knife edge pick ‘ems each and every time out.

 

Excellent mate. I agree at their finest there's nothing between them. Cheers!

 

Great post, and I agree with most. I honestly think Holmes' jab wasn't quite as heavy as it was in the Shavers I fight, and that if it had been the Norton fight wouldn't have been as close. Norton also benefitted from Larry not having quite learned to sit into his punches...both of those situations were obviously corrected by the time of his first defense. I feel that the Holmes who one-shotted Evangelista would have stopped even peak Norton within 12 (and I'm a big fan of Ken).

And yes, as John concurred very little between Holmes and Holyfield, in fact I only have Evander at #4 in comparison to Holmes' #3 at ATG heavies. I feel that peak Holmes would have had serious trouble with peak Evander, but would probably have dropped and stopped him by the 11th.

 

Tyson would have floored Larry hard, but Holmes would have rallied as usual and stopped him in 9. Holmes did everything Tokyo Douglas did...significantly better.

 

He also systematically downplayed Tyson’s power as if he didn’t get knocked out.

 

And at various times said he'd have been able to turn the fight around if his arm hadn't got stuck on the ropes when he tried to throw that uppercut.

Prideful.

But he loves money (more accurately, loves the security of having a lot of money in the bank). He'd risk hurting his pride for a big payday when he had already lost his 0. It's entirely in character.

 

Unfounded bull****. Holmes was doing very well financially before the Tyson fight and retired at a reasonable time in the 90s, not taking beatings for paydays.

 

Correct. But he took the Tyson fight for the money. This is his own words.

He also fought either Mercer or Holyfield (I cannot remember which) with a detached retina he hid because he wanted the big payday from the Holyfield fight. The is also in his own words.

I've read both of his books. He explains his attitude on money in detail. He grew up dirt ass poor and always wanted more in the bank for security, even after he got rich.

Do I need to link to page numbers of his book? Scan the pages? Post the youtube links to him saying this stuff?

 

He was certainly a multi-millonaire, which in the 80s was pretty sensational. He also never was one to blow all his money...far from it.

He was rich beyond most people's ken before the Mike fight for sure.

 

I think it’s irrelevant. Holmes took the Cooney fight for big money too. That neither means that he wasn’t prepared nor thought he’d lose. I don’t see any correlation between the paycheck and Holmes getting his ass kicked by Tyson.