Why did Larry Holmes do so well against Holyfield at 42?

He did capitalize on what had always been Larry's Achilles' Heel, but it could be strongly argued that he wouldn't have done that even six years before. Six years is six years...not to mention, again, the look of fear on Larry's face during the fight (which probably had the most to do with his losing...he didn't get that look even once in the 90s, though I could be mistaken there).

 

inactivity had a role. but Larry at that age would have still beaten most guys at heavyweight. Mike was just a pressure fighter and at his best at that point. I think Larry fought the best Mike ever was.

 

It didn't hurt Larry's cause at all that he had George Benton whispering in his ear...

 

Why did Foreman do so well against Holyfield at 42? They were great fighters and still even well past it quite decent pugs.

 

I agree, Mike was peaking at that time. Both he and Holmes came around when the heavyweight division wasn't exactly at its best. Leon, Thomas, Page, and Berbick weren't exactly Frazier, Foreman, or even Norton imo. Michael Spinks was an undeniably great light-heavy (one of my favorites), but he just gained weight at a very opportune time. Not exactly an all time heavy great, and to my eyes he got beat handily (four points) in the 2nd Larry fight.

I always wished George Foreman would have held on a little longer, as I believe he would have fought Larry for the title in 1978 instead of Norton. And I think Larry would have beat George at that time, especially after seeing how Shavers was beautifully outboxed in Larry's first fight with him. The Holmes that barely edged Norton possibly would have been knocked down by Foreman, but at that stage I see George getting stopped later. Not sure about the Norton-destroying George.

Besides, if George had hung on for awhile longer we might have seen Foreman-Shavers!!!!

I would envision knockdowns aplenty ala Lyle and Big George

 

WOW...was I wrong. lol Thanks for that...

 

masterful performance of boxing from a veteran.no energy wasted not much punishment taken. As an old fart who spars with younger guys I watch this fight on YouTube and try and pick up some hints .not so keen on the bit whare Larry spews his ring between rnds though.

 

Larry didn't even fight most of supposedly mentally weak Alphabet champions. He fought two - the aforementioned Weaver and Witherspoon.

Post Cooney he fought one really dangerous guy, Tim Witherspoon, who gave him hell. And he only fought him because Tim looked bad against Snipes in late '82. This was a pre Alphabet title Witherspoon.

You can't "not come close to beating" Holmes if he avoids you and the others who make up his toughest available competition.

The two he did fight gave him very tough fights.

 

There is a lot more to the story but too boring to repeat for the ninth time between this thread and the other twenty on this topic here ..

 

But he DID beat four guys who became champions later...including one who won the title twice. And let's not forget how many top five contenders he beat during his reign.

There were a few tomato cans for sure (Scott Frank...who?), Zanon (surprised he was ranked at all, as he suffered some really bad losses beforehand), plus I bet few will disagree that Marvis was highly questionable...but all long term heavy champs have taken easier fights, and I can't really impugn them for it (considering their overall career excellence).

….and hey, he's my favorite fighter so nevermind me.

 

I think this statement represents a misunderstanding of the man. His #1 concern has always been his bank account. That always overrode anything else. Yes, he was proud and wanted to make history, but those were both less important to him than his bank account.

He took the Tyson fight because King showed up at his door, handed him a briefcase with $250k cash inside, and offered him a $3mil (around $8mil today) purse, when he thought his earning potential from boxing was done due to his two losses to Spinks. He figured he'd lose but would pad his bank account with one final big payday.

Yes, I'm sure during camp he hyped himself up to think maybe he could win and surprise everyone, but at the moment he accepted the fight, that was not what he was thinking.

He wrote a book that gives a pretty good insight into his mindset. The book contains plenty of details about the finances of boxing, how much he made per fight, what investments he made, etc. The book contains next to no details about boxing history or really much of anything to make you think he was much of anyone other than someone who found a high earning job he was good at. The book makes it pretty clear who he is and who he isn't.

Just saying.

You want to talk about a fighter who really appreciated boxing history and his place in it (before substance abuse issues, bad influences, and his own ego got in the way)? THAT would be Tyson.

 

,,,,and in my opinion in their prime they were far above Holyfield. I don't think Evander hears the judges cards against either one in their prime.

 

Larry did well against Holyfield because he was more active than he had been against Tyson. That’s the main reason. After this, Larry still had a lot of reach and size advantage and experience over Evander. A more slightly built fighter who was not as explosive as Mike Tyson, one whom Larry could still time and mess about a lot more.

people forget that until he beat Bowe in a rematch Evander was regarded as a kind of Jimmy Ellis type heavyweight who had not grown fully into the division. At that time Evander still lacked wins over fully fledged young heavyweights.

Time has since enhanced the view of comeback Holmes in this fight in light of Evanders later renascence

 

I doubt Holmes stops Holyfield. He’d likely take a decision though.

 

COMPLETELY disagree. I mean obviously they fight for money. They're prizefighters.

Jacobs and Cayton brokered a deal with Holmes as early as 1986, right after the HBO tournament had started. Holmes was to face Tyson but HBO wanted Tyson in their tournament and if the fight with Holmes went through then the deal was off.

Jacobs and Cayton told Holmes he'd get first shot at Tyson's unified world championship, claiming Holmes was still looked upon as the heavyweight champ after his rematch with Spinks. So Holmes KNEW he'd be in line for a shot at Tyson and waited patiently for that shot to happen.

I was alive at the time. I have magazines, articles AND have talked with people in the Tyson camp regarding the lead up to a bout with Holmes. Sure money is the name of the game but Holmes isn't just fighting for money - he was fighting for history!