We all know Larry Holmes' jab is one of the best the sport has ever seen and I don't think there's any debating that, however I've been watching a fair bit of footage lately and noticed that those with a good jab seemed to have really troubled Larry. He looked great against the likes Shavers, Cobb, Berbick, Cooney etc, but many of these fighters had an average jab at best. Looking at him against Witherspoon, Norton, Michael Spinks x2 (whether he won these fights or not he struggled very badly) and you could throw in Carl Williams there as well. I'm not saying he would have lost to Thomas, but do you think Holms, and his team, knew this and played a big part into why Pinklon and Larry never thought? I would have Larry favourite for sure, but by his track record I think it would be very close, especially when you consider what a fantastic jab Thomas had himself. It also makes me question how he'd match up H2H against the best jabbers the heavyweight division has seen like Lewis, Wlad, Ali, Norton (in his prime), Liston, Louis to name a few
Wlad vs Holmes would be the ultimate test of who lays claim to the best jab in the Heavyweight division, maybe throw Sonny in the mix too. It would be interesting to see who would've won the battle of the jabs between Lewis and Holmes as well, considering Lewis himself struggled with good jabbers (Bruno, Mercer, Vitali etc.)
Lots of face first guys he fought as title challengers. Man, does he look good against the catchers and no footwork opponents. That's always going to make for a mismatch in a Larry Holmes fight and he proved he can beat those guys through his late 40's.
Which fighters didn't struggle with great jabs? Mercer, Holyfield and Bruno all troubled Lewis greatly with their jabs, for example. A fighter with a cracking jab is hard nut to crack.
Lewis also struggled with good jabbers, he was really outdone on the outside by Vitali for example. (Lewis took it inside later on where Vitali was much weaker) He also struggled hard with Bruno.
Maybe because of Larry's completely justified confidence in his own jab. If someone's competitive with you in your best field,so to speak,it takes the play away from him a little bit.
Some of the guys who troubled him were exceptional jabbers though. And a few came when he was past it. In almost every instance he still won.
I know many great heavyweights struggled against fighters with great jabs like Ali against Norton, Liton against Ali, Lewis against Mercer and Bruno, but I was looking for a reason why McGrain. I think Stevie hit the nail on the head though, Holmes being so big headed about his own abilities (rightfully so, after all, he was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time) that at times he may have used it to much. Also on the point of the Carl Williams fight. He may not have been outmanned by Carl, but he still only just scraped by him, in fact, I think last time I scored it I came out with a draw.
There is an old saying; "Jab a jabber." That was the basis of the success Norton had against Ali, he jabbed when Ali did.
