Shavers knockdown of Holmes...

[ross]

Earnie was for my money the hardest puncher of all time, and that was one of the hardest punches I've ever seen him land, so for Holmes to get up from that and go on and win the fight is just a testament to how great Larry Holmes was. One of the best ever IMO

So where does that put Mike Tyson ?

Holmes knew exactly what Mike was all about and what he was capable of, Mike has always been a known quantity

Mike put Holmes down and kept him there, the only man to do so

[ICB]

Earnie was for my money the hardest puncher of all time, and that was one of the hardest punches I've ever seen him land, so for Holmes to get up from that and go on and win the fight is just a testament to how great Larry Holmes was. One of the best ever IMO

So where does that put Mike Tyson ?

Holmes knew exactly what Mike was all about and what he was capable of, Mike has always been a known quantity

Mike put Holmes down and kept him there, the only man to do so

yes and douglas put tyson down and out but tyson wasnt ready for that fight same thing happened here holmes hadnt fought for like 2 years and was on losing streak losing two decisions which should of gone his way and holmes had two weeks to train and was shot thats difference mate and to be honest i have no idea why holmes not being fully prepared and not having any warm up opponent would take on animal like tyson was then if he was going challenge him id made sure id have couple of warm up fights first this decision from holmes still puzzles me


tyson hits very hard prolly top 5 hardest hw puncher of all time but for me shavers and foreman hit harder

[ross]

Mike didnt wear Holmes down, he obliterated him, no one came close before or after

Holmes wasnt caught cold and also wasnt slowing down in the fight (through age or lack of fitness), he just got caught by a better puncher than Shavers

[Greig]

Mike didnt wear Holmes down, he obliterated him, no one came close before or after

Holmes wasnt caught cold and also wasnt slowing down in the fight (through age or lack of fitness), he just got caught by a better puncher than Shavers

I'll agree with Ross here: Mike was a better puncher than Shavers, but not a harder puncher. Mike generated explosive power from perfect technique and an incredibly fast torquing of the shoulder and hips. He also had incredible handspeed in his younger days. Shavers on the other hand had more of a roundhouse, arm punching style. In the clip I posted alone you can count a few occassions where he throws himself off balance trying a big, swinging shot.

So, in terms of pure concussive power, I give the nod to Shavers. In terms of pure technique and fighting ability you have to go Tyson.

Lets not forget that the Holmes who stayed down against Tyson was 38 years old. The reason he wasn't in the best of shape was because he took the fight on pretty short notice (not sure it was as short as 2 weeks though...). The reason he did that was because Don King threw an OBSCENE amount of money at him.

Also, what people forget about that fight is that Larry looked great for 3 rounds jabbing and moving until Tyson caught up with him in the 4th.


Holmes/Tyson has an eerie similarity about Ali/Holmes 8 years earlier - only Tyson didn't pull his punches like Holmes did...

[Beanflicker]

Earnie was for my money the hardest puncher of all time, and that was one of the hardest punches I've ever seen him land, so for Holmes to get up from that and go on and win the fight is just a testament to how great Larry Holmes was. One of the best ever IMO

So where does that put Mike Tyson ?

Holmes knew exactly what Mike was all about and what he was capable of, Mike has always been a known quantity

Mike put Holmes down and kept him there, the only man to do so

But then again Mike was able to land much more clean power shots on Holmes' dome than Shavers was, due to Holmes being years older. Holmes got up from Tyson twice before he put him down for the count.

[Beanflicker]

^Agreed there. I'm a big fan of Shavers because I'm a sucker for the big punchers, but in terms of fighting ability I'm not really sold on Earnie. When he stepped up and trained hard he could be a solid force (like in his fight with Ali) but I think overall he had bad stamina, limited skills and a mediocre chin.

[Majesty]

What doesn't amaze me that he got up from that shot, it's that he got up from that shot at the count of 4

Same thing I asked myself how byrd got up from that Ibeubuchi punch at about 5.

Getting up from a huge punch isnt the thing..its getting up from it in about 5 seconds thats amazing