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Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
There, I said it. Holmes fought bums for the most of it. People like Evangelista and Frazier are not world beaters.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Larry Holmes is the 3rd best heavyweight of all time behind Ali and Louis.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Not to mention the greatest WHINER of all time. But credit where credit is due. He was one of the best for sure.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
similar to Marciano's time, with lots of older fighters/club fighters that lowered the level of comp as some say...... Norton, Shavers, Cobb, Scott Frank(who i met by the way in Oakland, NJ, was very highly touted until Larry sparked him),, Marvis Frazier..... Leon Spinks...., somewhat parallel Walcott, Moore, LaStarza, Charles, Rex Layne, Kidd Matthews.........
but Larry pretty much schooled and beat a prime Cooney who was no joke, and tough fights with Witherspoon, Weaver, Williams....
Holmes I rank #4 all time
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Holmes also prevented a few contenders from rising. Berbick was 18-1 when Larry beat him. Carl Williams was considered a top HW at the time undefeated. I remember he sold himself rather well The Truth! Nice jab. But Holmes took his '0'As well as Renaldo Snipes '0' who both IMO would have held titles had Larry not been there.
No fault he took on Spinks who kept himself in contentions with his win over Evangelistsa, but I agree neither fighter were world class.
Taking on 2 undefeated fighters back to back in Snipes & Cooney was & still is a rarity for HWs. & from 1981-1985 he faced 6 undefeated fighters. 8 total if we include & novice 10-0 Frazier & a 14-0 David Bey.
No world class beaters, but he took on some young fighters who gave him a run, especially Tim Witherspoon.
Not any greats, but he beat some good ones. Frazier eye injuries played a part in not being on that resume & Ali, then Young took Foreman's confidence, so that would have been the only fight where a champ could've given him a run for it.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Holmes wanted Foreman and that would have been a huge fight for his legacy. I think Larry would have given George a beating with that jab of his.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
No love for Scott LeDoux eh ;D. I'd love to have ol bitter Larry with that stick at heavyweight today. The man was literally sandwiched between two absolute dynamos era wise. But he faced a pretty decent run of tough talent and a half dozen Wal Mart shelf stockers, seem to recall even Renaldo Snipes giving him a helluva fight but may be off.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
No love for Scott LeDoux eh ;D. I'd love to have ol bitter Larry with that stick at heavyweight today. The man was literally sandwiched between two absolute dynamos era wise. But he faced a pretty decent run of tough talent and a half dozen Wal Mart shelf stockers, seem to recall even Renaldo Snipes giving him a helluva fight but may be off.
yes you got that right - here's the knockdown in the 7th
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1v6dCoQPBM
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
then there was this....you gotta be great to come back from stuff like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRGF5Yz2fO0
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
The Lorenzo Zannon fight was his best fight. Hard from bell to bell. ;D
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
No love for Scott LeDoux eh ;D. I'd love to have ol bitter Larry with that stick at heavyweight today. The man was literally sandwiched between two absolute dynamos era wise. But he faced a pretty decent run of tough talent and a half dozen Wal Mart shelf stockers, seem to recall even Renaldo Snipes giving him a helluva fight but may be off.
Larry beat up on one half of that sandwich... old, stale bread.
Then, in beautiful justice... he got slaughtered by the other half. (A battering I could watch over and over again). ;D
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
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Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
No love for Scott LeDoux eh ;D. I'd love to have ol bitter Larry with that stick at heavyweight today. The man was literally sandwiched between two absolute dynamos era wise. But he faced a pretty decent run of tough talent and a half dozen Wal Mart shelf stockers, seem to recall even Renaldo Snipes giving him a helluva fight but may be off.
Larry beat up on one half of that sandwich... old, stale bread.
Then, in beautiful justice... he got slaughtered by the other half. (A battering I could watch over and over again). ;D
Even the beating he took from Tyson, being knocked down 3 times, showed how great his chin and recuperative powers were. Those were truly brutal punches he took from a prime Mike Tyson.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
..... everybody fought bums apart from Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton and Holyfield :rolleyes:
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Larry Holmes is one of those fighters to whom I give grudging respect (very grudging). There's no denying his ability nor his greatness... but boy did I ever root for him to lose every time out. He was such an insufferable whiner. He wasn't given enough respect... Marciano couldn't carry his jock (didn't he say that?)... wah, wah wah! He should've never gotten in the ring with Ali... and I was oh so happy when he got destroyed by Tyson.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
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Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Larry Holmes is one of those fighters to whom I give grudging respect (very grudging). There's no denying his ability nor his greatness... but boy did I ever root for him to lose every time out. He was such an insufferable whiner. He wasn't given enough respect... Marciano couldn't carry his jock (didn't he say that?)... wah, wah wah! He should've never gotten in the ring with Ali... and I was oh so happy when he got destroyed by Tyson.
There must be some bit of you that was happy when he beat the undefeated Ray Mercer and cause that big upset. Larry was in tears that night because he got some respect for out smarting the Olympic gold medallist who had recently destroyed Tommy Morrison. It was emotional.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
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Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Larry Holmes is one of those fighters to whom I give grudging respect (very grudging). There's no denying his ability nor his greatness... but boy did I ever root for him to lose every time out. He was such an insufferable whiner. He wasn't given enough respect... Marciano couldn't carry his jock (didn't he say that?)... wah, wah wah! He should've never gotten in the ring with Ali... and I was oh so happy when he got destroyed by Tyson.
There must be some bit of you that was happy when he beat the undefeated Ray Mercer and cause that big upset. Larry was in tears that night because he got some respect for out smarting the Olympic gold medallist who had recently destroyed Tommy Morrison. It was emotional.
I must've blocked that one out of my mind. ;D
Nah... again... I give Larry the respect he deserves. He was also unlucky to come in after Ali and before Tyson... two formidable bookends to his own career.
The best (or more exciting) fight of his career, IMO, was definitely his war with Ken Norton. That was one of those classics.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
A great Champion is one who can get off the canvas and win. Holmes has done that. On the other hand he did fight a ton of bums who shouldn't even got a title shot. Great fighter in a bad era.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Yep. He had some chin. Maybe better than Ali's. I wished that Jerry Cooney had pushed to the fight harder, went after him more. I was rooting for Larry Holmes that night. But looking back I think Cooney fought too cautiously. If he would have pressured more, it might have been too much for the champion
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
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Originally Posted by
NoSavingByTheBell
Yep. He had some chin. Maybe better than Ali's. I wished that Jerry Cooney had pushed to the fight harder, went after him more. I was rooting for Larry Holmes that night. But looking back I think Cooney fought too cautiously. If he would have pressured more, it might have been too much for the champion
Gerry Cooney underwhelmed that night. I don't know whether it was the bright lights... the Great White Hope hype... stagefright... or what.
Then again maybe he just wasn't as good as advertised.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
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Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NoSavingByTheBell
Yep. He had some chin. Maybe better than Ali's. I wished that Jerry Cooney had pushed to the fight harder, went after him more. I was rooting for Larry Holmes that night. But looking back I think Cooney fought too cautiously. If he would have pressured more, it might have been too much for the champion
Gerry Cooney underwhelmed that night. I don't know whether it was the bright lights... the Great White Hope hype... stagefright... or what.
Then again maybe he just wasn't as good as advertised.
It was the latter, I read he did not want his friends and family betting for him to win because he knew they would lose their money.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Yes Holmes did fight bums. when it comes to fighting bums Roy Joke jr is the all time champion.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Larry Holmes is one of those fighters to whom I give grudging respect (very grudging). There's no denying his ability nor his greatness... but boy did I ever root for him to lose every time out. He was such an insufferable whiner. He wasn't given enough respect... Marciano couldn't carry his jock (didn't he say that?)... wah, wah wah! He should've never gotten in the ring with Ali... and I was oh so happy when he got destroyed by Tyson.
https://youtu.be/C0N6NTUbWFA
There must be some bit of you that was happy when he beat the undefeated Ray Mercer and cause that big upset. Larry was in tears that night because he got some respect for out smarting the Olympic gold medallist who had recently destroyed Tommy Morrison. It was emotional.
I must've blocked that one out of my mind. ;D
Nah... again... I give Larry the respect he deserves. He was also unlucky to come in after Ali and before Tyson... two formidable bookends to his own career.
The best (or more exciting) fight of his career, IMO, was definitely his war with Ken Norton. That was one of those classics.
I'm on the fence. Yes he did holler and cry. I think the 1st time Don King saw him sparring Larry heard him crackin' cold ass jokes to which of all people it was a trainer-I think Dundee that responded don't look at what he looks like. Look at what he's doing. His jab is near perfect and he's just a rookie.
I think of what must it felt like that Ali, his mentor gave the torch to Ray Leonard & for the most part never ever spoke positive about his pupil. Post Holmes interview is the most humble I ever seen him be. he beats the champ & was in tears, not happy & knowing he would be ridiculed for fighting Ali.
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Originally Posted by
mrbig1
A great Champion is one who can get off the canvas and win. Holmes has done that. On the other hand he did fight a ton of bums who shouldn't even got a title shot. Great fighter in a bad era.
Well said: great fighter in a not so good era!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NoSavingByTheBell
Yep. He had some chin. Maybe better than Ali's. I wished that Jerry Cooney had pushed to the fight harder, went after him more. I was rooting for Larry Holmes that night. But looking back I think Cooney fought too cautiously. If he would have pressured more, it might have been too much for the champion
Gerry Cooney underwhelmed that night. I don't know whether it was the bright lights... the Great White Hope hype... stagefright... or what.
Then again maybe he just wasn't as good as advertised.
I like the Legendary Night on Holmes-Cooney. Larry said he was hurt bad to the body. He said thank goodness the bell rang when it happened. Gerry IMO was a heavy handed fighter, gr8 power, but by midrounds IMO it was clear Larry made adjustments to show he was truly a fighter who could think in the ring. Gerry didn't have that. Plus I am a bit biased for the documentary stating how bad Gerry's father made him feel. Not Larry's fault he was tougher internally and using his past to make him better, whereas Cooney seemed to use his past to justify that fire he didn't have- If the bomb didn't detonate.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
Holmes could fight, don't get me wrong, but it was a load of bums he fought though.
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Re: Larry Holmes fought bums for the most of it.
I was never a Larry Holmes fan but he did what was expected, he won and he had skill, but Joe Louis fought bums too. Ali had a few biscuits on the table too. In Joe Louis' days his reign was nicknamed, "The bum of the month club." Like Larry and for a while heading along the same road, Ali and the most recent addition was Wlad, remember? They fought often and those opponents lined up and got their turn. The bum of the month club will appear and reappear whenever entertainment is sparse.