Please Larry Holmes say it aint true.

[KOJOE90]

The is some worrying talk on another web-site that Larry Holmes is thinking of giving K1 a go.

Surely this can't be true?

I really hope not.

[bennie]

The is some worrying talk on another web-site that Larry Holmes is thinking of giving K1 a go.

Surely this can't be true?

I really hope not.

Larry will do anything for money, it seems. And, as we know, there's money in K1 at the moment. The crazy thing is, Larry doesn't even need the money. He's loaded. He owns half of Easton. He just can't resist earning more.

[The_Power]

Larry Is an all time great heavyweight. I wish the man would just stay retired.

If i had the choice i would much rather see him in a boxing ring than a K1 one.

Just as a quick side point, where do the intelligent British Forum posters rate larry on your all time lists?

[KOJOE90]

The is some worrying talk on another web-site that Larry Holmes is thinking of giving K1 a go.

Surely this can't be true?

I really hope not.

Larry will do anything for money, it seems. And, as we know, there's money in K1 at the moment. The crazy thing is, Larry doesn't even need the money. He's loaded. He owns half of Easton. He just can't resist earning more.

Very true, I remember reading a piece on Larry about a year after his lose to Tyson. The writer walked into Larrys office to see the former Champ lay flat on his back with his arms spread out wide, as if he had been KO'd.

Larry looked at the writer and said "If they ever want to see me like this again I want at least $5 million" and burst out laughing.

My memory of the article is hazy but that was the general jist of it.

[bennie]

Larry Is an all time great heavyweight. I wish the man would just stay retired.

If i had the choice i would much rather see him in a boxing ring than a K1 one.

Just as a quick side point, where do the intelligent British Forum posters rate larry on your all time lists?

My top 15 heavies of all time:

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Joe Louis
3. Jack Johnson
4. Jack Dempsey
5. Larry Holmes
6. Rocky Marciano
7. George Foreman
8. Jim Jeffries
9. Evander Holyfield
10. Sonny Liston
11. Joe Frazier
12. Gene Tunney
13. Jim Corbett
14. Lennox Lewis
15. Jersey Joe Walcott

The Pope, an excellent American poster on several boxing sites, did a top 25 list and also rates Holmes in the top five:

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Jack Johnson
4. Joe Louis
5. Larry Holmes
6. Gene Tunney
7. Jack Dempsey
8. Sam Langford
9. James J. Jeffries
10. George Foreman
11. Tommy Burns
12. Evander Holyfield
13. Joe Frazier
14. Joe Jeannette
15. Lennox Lewis
16. Sonny Liston
17. Harry Wills
18. Bob Fitzsimmons
19. Mike Tyson
20. James J. Corbett
21. Ken Norton
22. Ezzard Charles
23. Peter Jackson
24. Max Schmeling
25. Tommy Gibbons

(The Pope did not rate bareknuckle champions)

[steve689]

1) Louis
2) Marciano
3) Ali
4) Holmes
5) Johnson
6) Tyson
7) Dempsey
8) Foreman
9) Holyfield
10) Frazier

Ali had to many controversial wins for me.

[stujones]

The is some worrying talk on another web-site that Larry Holmes is thinking of giving K1 a go.

Surely this can't be true?

I really hope not.

I do believe he'll give boxing one more go, I really hope he doesn't give K1 a go.

While I don't condone any kind of comeback for Larry, he knows how to handle himself in the Boxing ring and I geniunely wouldn't be surprised if he could mix it in with some of these so called top 30 guys.

I geniunely believe Holmes vs Foreman will happen eventually, and I also think Hearns will come back.

I'd prefer that than him make a fool of himself in K1, look whats happend to Vince Phillips and Frans Botha.

[Lickszz]

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Larry Holmes
3. Joe Louis
4. George Foreman
5. Rocky Marciano
6. Evander Holyfield
7. Lennox Lewis
8. Joe Frazier
9. Jersey Joe Walcott
10. Jack Dempsey
11. Jack Johnson
12. Sonny Liston
13. Ezzard Charles
14. Gene Tunney
15. Ken Norton

[Hardhitters11]

This is really off the top of my head without thinking properly:

Ali
Louis
Holmes
Foreman
Tyson
Lewis
Marciano
Frazier
Johnson
Holyfield

HH

[revporl]

sorry folks, what is K1? Is it the tournament for veterans or that stupid thing where they fight wrestlers?

[Lugh]

Why does Holyfield figure so highly on all your lists?

The only "great" he ever beat was Tyson (IMO not a "great" at all) he lost the series with Bowe, Lewis and all his "great" non-tyson bouts weren't at Heavyweight.

He is/was a fouling, philandering, un-sporting, hypocrite and has no place amongst such illuminatii.

"The Overcomer" indeed, I mean, that's not even a real word!!!!

[knockout artist]

Larry Is an all time great heavyweight. I wish the man would just stay retired.

If i had the choice i would much rather see him in a boxing ring than a K1 one.

Just as a quick side point, where do the intelligent British Forum posters rate larry on your all time lists?

I rate Larry no 2 on the all time HW list behind Joe Louis.

Larry had a great chin, heart, jab, good puncher, great ring generalship, could fight well on the front and back foot.

As close to a complete HW there ever was. Had a better chin than Joe Louis but Louis was a better puncher and put combinations together better.

Whats more, Larry is a success story. A great HW who kept his money.

A rarity.

[The_Power]

nice to see larry get into peoples top 5's

I personally consider him the most underrated Heavyweight champion, and on my list, he's number 1.

As For Holyfield, hes good, but not in my top 5-10.

[bennie]

sorry folks, what is K1? Is it the tournament for veterans or that stupid thing where they fight wrestlers?

It's a mixture of boxing and kicking, and, regrettably, is very serious stuff indeed. Any aging boxer should keep well away from it.

[DIRT SUGAR]

Holmes was a fantastic fighter. I think his performances, when he was far removed from his prime, against the likes of Ray Mercer, Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall, where he extended all three, nearly beating McCall in his last title tilt, prove how good a fighter he must have been when he was at his peak.

Holmes had a bit of everything. Jab, good right hand, movement when he wanted to, great chin and courage by the truckful.

A peak Holmes would have competed with a peak Tyson and handled pretty much everyone else around from Bowe to the Klitchkos pretty easily.

[The_Power]

Holmes was a fantastic fighter. I think his performances, when he was far removed from his prime, against the likes of Ray Mercer, Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall, where he extended all three, nearly beating McCall in his last title tilt, prove how good a fighter he must have been when he was at his peak.

Holmes had a bit of everything. Jab, good right hand, movement when he wanted to, great chin and courage by the truckful.

A peak Holmes would have competed with a peak Tyson and handled pretty much everyone else around from Bowe to the Klitchkos pretty easily.

I agree, good post.


Holmes, im my opinion, is the most well 'rounded' heavyweight in history.

He would have beating Tyson in his prime, also in my opinion, the 3rd round of there fight, where holmes rolls back the years, and confuses iron mike with that jab, i think show, that it would have been a great fight, but i would see larry as the eventual winner.

[bennie]

He made 20 straight defences of his world heavyweight title. That speaks for itself. Only Joe Louis made more unbroken defences as heavyweight champ...

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think Holmes is vastly underrated, I have him 3rd on my list after Louis and the Ali. Ali gets the nod on the level of competition, beating near prime Liston and prime Foreman is something that no other Heavyweight in the list would have achieved in my opinion.

Louis, you just have to respect his consistency, especially when you consider how long he reigned and the fact that he lost some of his prime years to the war.

When rating heavyweights, I usually assess how long they maintained their near best form as a major factor, as well as their level of competition, and number of defences.

There's a big difference between being a great fighter and a great champion. Evander was a great fighter, but whether he was a great champion is another matter, that is debatable.

Everyone goes on about how shot Tyson was, but at the time, it seemed the other way around, and in truth, Evander HAD lost a lot by the time he got to Tyson, it's just that he had the goods on Mike. Mike wasn't totally gone at all, he just got made to look shot by Evander, because Evander took away his game, and out-bullied the bully, and for that he deserves credit. I don't think anyone else out there at that time, with the possible exception of Lewis could have done that.

When you look at the reigns of Modern heavyweights, most of them were pretty brief, only Louis, Ali, Holmes and Lewis have defences in double figures (off the top of my head), and maintained their peak form for a decade or more.

Longevity counts for a lot in my book.

Also in Evander's defence, he would have been competitive with any heavyweight in history, something you cannot neccesarily say about others on the list.

For what it's worth, I think Holmes could have beaten Ali, though not the Ali that beat Liston, I don't think anyone could have beaten that guy, he was just too damned fast.

I think what I am trying to say, is that you need to decide upon your criteria before you can rate fighters, if the criteria we use are all different, then of course our ratings will be different.

[Hardhitters11]

I would have Holmes 3-4 for definate.


HH

[revporl]

He was definitely the best heavyweight of his era, and of subsequent ones. His fight with Norton and Shavers were absolute classics, and he handled nearly all the contenders and other champions of his time easily. I think he would have retired for good had he beaten Marciano's record, but having lost to spinks, always felt he had something else (I dunno what!) to prove. As with many other champions he tarnished his reputation to an extent by fighting on too long and losing to fighters he would have easily handled at his peak. To end up fighting a freakshow like Butterbean was bad enough, I hope and pray he doesn't decide to do the K1 thing, even if he succeeds he won't enchance his reputation (or his health) at all.