Not sure if you guys have seen these clips before but there is some good shots of Muhammad and Larry sparring in
July 1974, Pennsylvania. There is a good one of Ali getting decked by Larry (Ali faking it) but a nice shot nonetheless.
Also a really short clip of Frazier sparring Jimmy Young.
what other fighters who would later become contenders or even belt holders that did Ali and Holmes ever spar with that they never fought in a Boxing match ?
I believe that Larry Holmes was Ali's sparring partner up until the Chuck Wepner fight in March 1975, when Larry was 11-0-0 as a professional. The way I always heard it was that by that time Larry Holmes had already gotten so good that he gave Ali fits--- which was part of the reason why he went his own way.
In a way I kind of believe it only because from Wepner onwards you do see Ali become more flat-footed and slow, relying more and more on the rope-a-dope and psychological tactics. The bursts of speed and combinations became less frequent.
Throw in the fact that Holmes had a pretty deep amateur background only losing to the absolute top heavyweights, and some of those losses he avenged. So he definitely wasn't as green as people would assume.
He was a quick learner, hard worker, and he had the physical attributes to present an aging champion a little fuss. Whether true or not, Holmes definitely learned enough during those years that I think in a hypothetical matchup between the two men prime for prime Holmes most likely would have beaten him because he knew everything there was to expect.
Anyways, the documentary "Muhammad and Larry" used to be for free on YouTube but ESPN now forces you to buy it but there was a lot of footage of them as sparring partners and of course the build up to their fight in 1980.
Caractacus wrote: ↑14 Sep 2021, 16:47
Here's the clip from that show.
this was the sparring footage from MUHAMMAD AND LARRYI
which was ESPN 30 FOR 30 show.
I remember they also interviewed Tim Witherspoon in 1980
who was a sparring partner for Ali when he fought Holmes in 1980
April.16.1977
I remember watching this on ABC Wide World of Sports.
They were supposed to show Larry Holmes vrs Stan Ward
but it was cancelled because of the tournament scandal.
Dokes was 19 (and a half) years old here.
He had turned pro just after his 18th birthday
