every time i see a fight i love him more: larry holmes.

[man]

beautiful technique. fast. solid power.
and what a heart.

yet as much as love to see him fight, i
really don't like to hear him talk. crybaby
with attention deficit syndrome.

all in all i think larry would wipe the floor
with anybody who had a title fight in the
last ten years.

[witherspoon]

I agree with your opinion of Larry the fighter, the more I see of him the more I love the guy.

But I always enjoyed listening to what he had to say. I have always been a big fan of Larry Holmes, so I have to admit, he can make me cringe sometimes.
He didn't quite know how to cope with the knowledge of how superbly brilliant a fighter he was coupled with the knowledge that he was absolutely not appreciated for what a superbly brilliant fighter he was. He could come across as awkward and uncertain at times, and you never knew what to expect, but I respect him for always speaking his mind and not giving a damn how people would judge him.

I started a thread a while back about how, in hindsight, he was perfectly justified in his tirade against Peter Marciano after the first Spinks fight, and I was pleasantly surprised that everyone agreed with me. I think (I hope) that Larry himself realises that true boxing fans do appreciate what a great fighter he was.

And props to the guy for managing not piss away his hard earned money and making himself a respected business man, and for fighting on into middle age and actually enhancing his rep.

[man]

wholeheartedly agree. i just saw this very piece with peter
marciano and couldn't help thinking that larry was so clearly
crying about something so trivial. but you are right, he spoke
his mind at least.

and it is really good to see that some boxers knew how to
deal with the dollars coming in ...

[Crease]

Larry isn't my cup of tea.

Larry's style of the defensive jab-jab-jab has become the model for later champions like Lennox Lewis & Wladimir Klitschsko to evolve and mutate.

I've always prefers brawlers and swarmers, for me - they always make for better fights.

[Caractacus]

wholeheartedly agree. i just saw this very piece with peter
marciano and couldn't help thinking that larry was so clearly
crying about something so trivial. but you are right, he spoke
his mind at least.

and it is really good to see that some boxers knew how to
deal with the dollars coming in ...

Larry Holmes(IMOP)
was the poor man's"Dolemite'.
At least you could laugh along with Dolemite.
here is a trailer to a movie of his from 1974.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIUEHsyt54J

[man]

wholeheartedly agree. i just saw this very piece with peter
marciano and couldn't help thinking that larry was so clearly
crying about something so trivial. but you are right, he spoke
his mind at least.

and it is really good to see that some boxers knew how to
deal with the dollars coming in ...

Larry Holmes(IMOP)
was the poor man's"Dolemite'.
At least you could laugh along with Dolemite.
here is a trailer to a movie of his from 1974.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIUEHsyt54J

:)

[Datsue]

I agree with your opinion of Larry the fighter, the more I see of him the more I love the guy.

But I always enjoyed listening to what he had to say. I have always been a big fan of Larry Holmes, so I have to admit, he can make me cringe sometimes.
He didn't quite know how to cope with the knowledge of how superbly brilliant a fighter he was coupled with the knowledge that he was absolutely not appreciated for what a superbly brilliant fighter he was. He could come across as awkward and uncertain at times, and you never knew what to expect, but I respect him for always speaking his mind and not giving a damn how people would judge him.

I started a thread a while back about how, in hindsight, he was perfectly justified in his tirade against Peter Marciano after the first Spinks fight, and I was pleasantly surprised that everyone agreed with me. I think (I hope) that Larry himself realises that true boxing fans do appreciate what a great fighter he was.

And props to the guy for managing not piss away his hard earned money and making himself a respected business man, and for fighting on into middle age and actually enhancing his rep.

Fantastic post.

I, too, am heartened that Larry's kept most of his marbles & all of his cash.

[meahdem]

holmes was truly a great fighter, he could of boxed in any era and been world champ, his problem was he came after ali, it's always harder to follow an ATG, also some fighters are never truly appreciated until after they retire.

[Tuan_Jim]

Larry could always brawl when he needed to. Lewis and the Klit sisters never could.

[man]

Larry could always brawl when he needed to. Lewis and the Klit sisters never could.

lewis and vitali could and did IMO. still i
think larry would find a way against both.

[elmersalsa]

The great Larry Holmes had the best heavyweight jab of all time in my opinion. Top 3 jab p4p. He was a villain after he beat the beloved great Muhammad Ali. I think that was a BIG STAIN in his career. When the great Mike Tyson brutally KO'd him in 4 in 1988 lots of people laughed.

[Crease]

Larry could always brawl when he needed to. Lewis and the Klit sisters never could.

Maybe so. But there can be no doubt that he layed the groundwork for the "safety first" fighters who became Heavyweight Champions after him.

[Datsue]

Larry could always brawl when he needed to. Lewis and the Klit sisters never could.

Maybe so. But there can be no doubt that he layed the groundwork for the "safety first" fighters who became Heavyweight Champions after him.

Bollocks did he. You can basically parcel that one up & lay it squarely at the doormat of Emanuel Steward, who decided that all tall dudes with a jab & a right hand should fight like a clone of Tommy Hearns during the last minute of the fourth round of the James "The Heat" Kinchen bout.

This approach solved Lennox Lewis's defensive flaws & brought him the undisputed title. Wlad obviously followed suit (once Steward got hold of him) & modern heavyweights like Price & Fury fight much the same way as the aforementioned Steward-trained pair(jab-jab-cross-lean & body 'em down).

It's become the tall heavyweight blueprint.

I would venture that you don't like Holmes 'cos he dissed Marciano.

[meahdem]

anybody who thinks holmes was a jab and hold fighter knows nothing about boxing.

[Tomasino]

Larry Holmes set the mould for the Klitschko bros style? That's truly absurd.

Manny Steward did that with Lennox and then Wlad. What about Jack Johnson? his style was much more Klit like than Larrys. Larry could do it all. He just chose to use his excellent jab a lot of the time. Why not? It was an awesome weapon.

[Broomhall]

Larry Holmes was for me a top 5 heavyweight EVER and on his day possibly number one. Great chin, heart, could box and move, fight when he needed to, exciting to watch.

He has opinions and says what he thinks-carries a chip on his shoulder-which I think to some extent he is entitled to, and which can rub people up the wrong way-but so what?

The guy could fight.

[man]

Larry could always brawl when he needed to. Lewis and the Klit sisters never could.

Maybe so. But there can be no doubt that he layed the groundwork for the "safety first" fighters who became Heavyweight Champions after him.

what?

[dempseyfire]

Larry could always brawl when he needed to. Lewis and the Klit sisters never could.

Maybe so. But there can be no doubt that he layed the groundwork for the "safety first" fighters who became Heavyweight Champions after him.

Bollocks did he. You can basically parcel that one up & lay it squarely at the doormat of Emanuel Steward, who decided that all tall dudes with a jab & a right hand should fight like a clone of Tommy Hearns during the last minute of the fourth round of the James "The Heat" Kinchen bout.
.

Holmes even in his mid-late 40s didn't come close to the amount of grabbing and holding Wlad did vs Povetkin.

[yancey]

Larry isn't my cup of tea.

Larry's style of the defensive jab-jab-jab has become the model for later champions like Lennox Lewis & Wladimir Klitschsko to evolve and mutate.

I've always prefers brawlers and swarmers, for me - they always make for better fights.

I love the swarmers too, but Larry was a heck of a heavyweight.

[Crease]

Bollocks did he. You can basically parcel that one up & lay it squarely at the doormat of Emanuel Steward, who decided that all tall dudes with a jab & a right hand should fight like a clone of Tommy Hearns during the last minute of the fourth round of the James "The Heat" Kinchen bout.

I thought we were talking about Heavyweights? Obviously there are fighters down in the lower weights who have similar approaches, and the inclusion of Manny Steward in a boxing camp can only mean that he'll try to change the fighter by stamping his own style.

This approach solved Lennox Lewis's defensive flaws & brought him the undisputed title. Wlad obviously followed suit (once Steward got hold of him) & modern heavyweights like Price & Fury fight much the same way as the aforementioned Steward-trained pair(jab-jab-cross-lean & body 'em down).

It's become the tall heavyweight blueprint.

And if you look back at Holmes in his own time, you can draw comparisons. Holmes heavily relied on his jab, and later so did he Lennox Lewis then Wladimir after him.

Now the point that I'm making is that if you try to compare this approach with other top ten Heavyweights, they don't use it. The likes of Ali, Louis, Marciano, Dempsey, Tyson, Foreman, Frazier - none of them can be compared to this style.

In my opinion, Larry helped bring that style on in the Heavyweight division.

I would venture that you don't like Holmes 'cos he dissed Marciano.

Certainly I'm a massive fan of Marciano, I'm very open about that. But, at the risk of repeating myself, Larry's style does not appeal to me. We all have our own preferences, and it's just not my thing.

[Crease]

I love the swarmers too, but Larry was a heck of a heavyweight.

Undeniably. And I would never try to take that away from him, Larry sits very comfortably in my top 10 best Heavyweights. He was a great fighter, and had an astounding career.

[Datsue]

Crease: Jesus Fvck, well, I was gonna do a point-by-point rebuttal, as your entire argument rests on talking bullshit about Holmes as if you've never seen him & you literally took every sentence I wrote out of context (of both the conversation & my own post) in what I can only presume was a deliberately obtuse manner, but then I decided I have better things to do than argue with a brick wall.

Good day.

[Counter-puncher]

you're wrong, bruv. Crease is never deliberately obtuse

[Tuan_Jim]

Crease, were you impressed by Larry Holmes in round 7 when he came off the floor to resume slugging with Renaldo Snipes? Or did his trading with a man who moments earlier had nearly decapitated him remind you too much of Lennox Lewis laying on his back for the 10-count? Or perhaps it was more similar to Wladimir's squeezing his assailant tight and riding out the round with a look of high terror in his eyes?

The concept of the Klitschkos somehow being the bastard children of Larry Holmes is one of the most bizarre opinions I have ever read on a boxing forum. And I've studied Polecateddy.

[drunkenpiper36]

Larry Holmes had both one of the best left jabs and recuperative powers the heavyweight division has ever seen. His right upper cut was well better than average too. His bouts with Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, and Earnie Shavers are classics and victories over top flight opposition. Like most long reigning champions he had some flat performances and took some bouts with second rate opponents. But his overall resume and fighting ability without question make Holmes a top five heavyweight in my book.