Sonny Liston -v- Larry Holmes

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The battle of the jabs!

Who would win this mythical battle?

Liston with his extremely powerful, ramrod but slower jab or Holmes with his faster, sharper but very damaging jab.

This is a hard one for me as I rate both highly.

Holmes had the best recuperative powers I've ever seen on a heavyweight & Liston was one tough man (when he wasn't taking dives ).

Larry had a tendency to brawl when tagged & that would have been futile against Liston, but there was always a question mark over Sonny's stamina.

I lean towards Liston, but only just.

[ICB]

i really like holmes he reminds me bit of young muhammad ali i see holmes winning then he gets caught and knocked down like earnie shavers one and he wins ud if we are talking 12 rounds

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

i think holmes would be to sharp, to fearless and just too good for Liston. I see Holmes beating the fight out of Liston and ref calling the fight around round 9 or 10.

[Pugilistic]

im going with liston because of his power. we all seen what happened to holmes against tyson and i know holmes was really old then but still his style didnt change much. liston and tyson styles are similiar and im going with liston by ko

[DaxxKahn]

Larry would out box him all day....At his prime he was fairly fast and a great technicion ( did I spell that right? probably not but..) Sonny would get frustrated by 8 and lose composure of himself making larry's job easier...Holmes by dec

[ICB]

im going with liston because of his power. we all seen what happened to holmes against tyson and i know holmes was really old then but still his style didnt change much. liston and tyson styles are similiar and im going with liston by ko

difference was holmes hadnt fought for like 2 years it was his first comeback fight after losing split dec to spinks he was at his heaviest plus i heard he wasnt feeling to good plus he only had 2 weeks to train and he still held his own until he got caught i feel 1978 would of beat tyson by 12 dec same with liston although he might he dropped en route to a decision win

[LegendBoxing65]

Holmes was so underrated. This man had one of the best jabs in heavyweight history, and besides Tommy Hearns -one the best jabs in boxing ever. He had a good right hand and his ring technical abilities were top notch. I see him outboxing Liston and winning a decision, not that Liston couldn't make it interesting. We saw how Weaver and even Ocasio gave Larry some tough times, but Larry was the real deal. Larry in my mind is top 5 heavyweight ever. Totally underrated fighter, and Ali was in away overrated.

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Holmes was so underrated. This man had one of the best jabs in heavyweight history, and besides Tommy Hearns -one the best jabs in boxing ever. He had a good right hand and his ring technical abilities were top notch. I see him outboxing Liston and winning a decision, not that Liston couldn't make it interesting. We saw how Weaver and even Ocasio gave Larry some tough times, but Larry was the real deal. Larry in my mind is top 5 heavyweight ever. Totally underrated fighter, and Ali was in away overrated.

Good assessment of Holmes.

It was hard for me when I thought of the matchup, but I keep changing my mind when I see other peoples' arguments.

[El Kabong]

...Holmes was like Ali minus the great chin.....I think Liston could hurt Holmes but that being said Larry could put it on Sonny too!

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Which great fighter didListon beat

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Zora Foley, Clevland Williams..... Absolutley top notch mate!

[Punisher136]

Which great fighter didListon beat

Some guy. i think his name was floyd patterson

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And which great fighters did they beat

[ICB]

And which great fighters did they beat

Oscar Natalio Bonavena he was decent fighter
Henry Cooper was ok i suppose 
Ingemar Johansson decent fighter
Archie Moore but past it

no real great fighters on his win record just good or decent fighters best win on his record was the great archie moore but he was past it

[right_cross]

...Holmes was like Ali minus the great chin.....I think Liston could hurt Holmes but that being said Larry could put it on Sonny too!

Good lord Lyle! Holmes had a major chin.

JMO, but Holmes ate one of biggest bombs ever landed in a Heavyweight bout. He got flat out clocked by a monster right hand from Earnie Shavers. Not only did he get up, but he ended the round slinging leather. Went on to win a lopsided decision.

Dare I say it, but that shot may have even put the chin of chins, George Chuvalo, down for a 10 count.

Back to the question, Holmes would speed bag Liston. Liston thrived on the fear factor he had over opponents. Similar to what Tyson had going for him in his hey day. Once exposed he wasnt all that. Holmes would do the same thing to Liston that Ali did.