1979

[Ezzard]

Anyone got this issue?

Did people really want to see Ali-Holmes?

[bennie]

As I recall, there was. Ali had been retired just a few months and Holmes was looking good.

[TheOneIsHere2008]

As I recall, there was. Ali had been retired just a few months and Holmes was looking good.

If Ali would have shown up in the shape he showed up for Spinks ll he probably would have lost a unanimous decision...The last version of Ali to have been able to beat a boxer as good as Holmes is the Ali who showed up in Zaire and possibly the one that showed up in Manila...

But fight fans are fight fans...That's why some still clamor for the Fourth? Fifth? Coming of Michael Gerard Tyson...

IMHO, thirty is the cusp for the lion's share's of boxers...

[Robinson]

I think Holmes in 78-79 was a fine fighting specimen...what
had Ali really done post '76 that made people think wow he
LOOKS good and effective ?

Maybe they were sadists...or perhaps it was a Tyson-Lewis
situation that the hardcore fans needed that final nail or
confirmation of defeat.

[elmersalsa]

I think Holmes in 78-79 was a fine fighting specimen...what
had Ali really done post '76 that made people think wow he
LOOKS good and effective ?

Maybe they were sadists...or perhaps it was a Tyson-Lewis
situation that the hardcore fans needed that final nail or
confirmation of defeat.

I agree with you bro...It would be the same thing a la Tyson vs Lewis.

[overhand_right]

If you guys had been around here in 2002 you'd know that your take on Tyson/Lewis was FAR from the actual sentiment.

The majority of people were predicting Tyson to knock Lewis out, people (like me) who felt Lewis would win were in the minority.

The only way anyone would concede Lewis 'might' win would be via DQ, or, a points win when he 'runs'.

After LL beat Tyson up suddenly Tysons 'shot'.

[TheOneIsHere2008]

I think Holmes in 78-79 was a fine fighting specimen...what
had Ali really done post '76 that made people think wow he
LOOKS good and effective ?

Maybe they were sadists...or perhaps it was a Tyson-Lewis
situation that the hardcore fans needed that final nail or
confirmation of defeat.

I agree with you bro...It would be the same thing a la Tyson vs Lewis.

Holmes beats a shot Ali in the early stages of Parkinsonism...Isn't he all that...And, oh, he might beat Ali as bad as Lewis beat a shot Tyson, though some didn't know it at the time...

That's almost impressive as the cat in the black trunks nearly killing the bigger cat in the white trunks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWoSf5zb3b4

I have always been of two minds about that fight...I detest Tyson as a person but it was nice for Holmes to feel what's it like to be an old bull in a fight with a young one...

[raylawpc]

I think Holmes in 78-79 was a fine fighting specimen...what
had Ali really done post '76 that made people think wow he
LOOKS good and effective ?

Maybe they were sadists...or perhaps it was a Tyson-Lewis
situation that the hardcore fans needed that final nail or
confirmation of defeat.

I agree with you bro...It would be the same thing a la Tyson vs Lewis.

Holmes beats a shot Ali in the early stages of Parkinsonism...Isn't he all that...And, oh, he might beat Ali as bad as Lewis beat a shot Tyson, though some didn't know it at the time...

That's almost impressive as the cat in the black trunks nearly killing the bigger cat in the white trunks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWoSf5zb3b4

I have always been of two minds about that fight...I detest Tyson as a person but it was nice for Holmes to feel what's it like to be an old bull in a fight with a young one...

Probably wasn't so nice from Holmes' perspective . . .

[TheOneIsHere2008]

Probably wasn't so nice from Holmes' perspective . . .

-raylawpc

In a way I feel worse for Holmes...I think there was a time, well before Ali stepped in the ring with Holmes, that he knew he didn't have it... But I think Holmes thought he could pull it off...In retrospect, even given what we now know about Tyson's vulnerabilities, there was no way a Prime Mike Tyson was going to lose to that version of Larry Holmes...It seemed the dancing and the jabs only enraged him...

[Ambling Alp]

I thought a couple of the fights mentioned on that issue that didn't happen would have been interesting. Danny Lopez vs Wilfredo Gomez probably would have been a war. Victor Galindez vs Matthew (Franklin) Saad Muhammad would have been interesting as well.

[My2Sense]

I thought a couple of the fights mentioned on that issue that didn't happen would have been interesting. Danny Lopez vs Wilfredo Gomez probably would have been a war. Victor Galindez vs Matthew (Franklin) Saad Muhammad would have been interesting as well.

That's exactly what I was thinking as I was looking at that image.

I also would've liked to have seen Duran-Cuevas at this time, when Duran was still young and fit, and Cuevas was still active and still had his chin. I think we all missed out on a potential classic there.

[Robinson]

If you guys had been around here in 2002 you'd know that your take on Tyson/Lewis was FAR from the actual sentiment.

The majority of people were predicting Tyson to knock Lewis out, people (like me) who felt Lewis would win were in the minority.

The only way anyone would concede Lewis 'might' win would be via DQ, or, a points win when he 'runs'.

After LL beat Tyson up suddenly Tysons 'shot'.

I was here in 2002 and I recall many people picking both fighters.
I also recall reading several people in the know predicting Ali to beat
Holmes in 1980.

I am also sure that many felt Louis would beat Marciano or Jeffries would
beat Johnson. Tyson-Lewis was in more of our times than those fights
and fans will always believe and will their man to win..even when he has
very little chance at that time.

[elmersalsa]

If you guys had been around here in 2002 you'd know that your take on Tyson/Lewis was FAR from the actual sentiment.

The majority of people were predicting Tyson to knock Lewis out, people (like me) who felt Lewis would win were in the minority.

The only way anyone would concede Lewis 'might' win would be via DQ, or, a points win when he 'runs'.

After LL beat Tyson up suddenly Tysons 'shot'.

I was here in 2002 and I recall many people picking both fighters.
I also recall reading several people in the know predicting Ali to beat
Holmes in 1980.

I am also sure that many felt Louis would beat Marciano or Jeffries would
beat Johnson. Tyson-Lewis was in more of our times than those fights
and fans will always believe and will their man to win..even when he has
very little chance at that time.

Just like I thought the great Sugar Ray Leonard was going to beat Terry Norris. It was a painful thing to see for us, the Sugar Ray fans.

[Robinson]

We want to believe that they can bring back that
brilliance that made us fans in the first place.