Quote Originally Posted by Mars_ax View Post
Holmes was a bit of a whiner, but some of it was understandable, he was always in Ali's shadow and never really got the respect he deserved. Part of that however had to do with Larry having the charisma of a carrot and never being a popular champion.
I remember when Holmes fought Cooney in Vegas, it was like Cooney was the Champion, they even introduced him last like they would the champion. I heard the crowd in Vegas was really racist, the great white hope thing.
Holmes really needed big George to stick around, the early retirement of Foreman prevented an inevitable match up that most certainly would've occurred sometime in 1978/79? Foreman would've only turned 30 in 1979 and these days that makes you a pup! A win over big George would've solidified Holmes reputation that was tarnished by his win over the hapless Ali. The Ali fight wasn't his fault, the fight shouldn't have happened, but he appears to get the blame. Holmes had one of the best jabs in Heavyweight history and the lumbering Lewis would've have had a face full of it from Holmes in his prime. Holmes had problems with the difficult Norton and the difficult Spinks. His early 1980's defences were against moderate opposition and this clouds people's judgement of him. Larry just needs to sit down relax and know in his own heart he was a great champion.