Larry Holmes v Oliver McCall
R1. 10-10
Interesting round. Holmes is cagey, jabbing with authority but backing off when McCall presses. Both guys are looking for range on the jab, Holmes wins that battle. McCall is more aggressive in the second half of the round though. Holmes is really swinging for the fences with the right hand when McCall is wrongfooted, really looks like a fighter going for a 1 punch ko. Probably a psych ploy. I'm sure that Holmes knows that McCall knows that Holmes knows that Oliver McCall is not getting ko'd by anybody.
R2. 10-9 Holmes (20-19 Holmes)
Holmes gets down to business. He has figured out the effective operating range for his jab and scores freely, claiming centre ring, while McCall jabs short in a futile effort to match Larry.
When McCall starts to throw quick combos stepping in to crowd Holmes and push him back, Holmes switches his jab to McCalls chest to block his advance. McCall has his moments, but Holmes always manages to tie him up before he can do damage.
R3. 9-10 McCall (29-29)
Holmes seems determined to repeat the masterful display of round 2, McCall turns away abruptly when Holmes whips in a mean right hand and literally walks away. But when he turns back to face Holmes he seems to have made a decision, rolled up his sleeves and determined that if he has to eat Holmes' right hand to get close, so be it.
Most of the round is spent in Holmes' corner, where some brutal looking exchanges of punches take place, McCall lands more, constantly pressuring, but Holmes seems to be choosing his shots more carefully.
Holmes tries to gain a psychological advantage by inviting McCall back into the corner, as if to say 'hey, I can do this all night'. McCall just shrugs his shoulders and storms back in.
McCall is a fascinating fighter to watch. His face seems to express every single emotion. It's like watching DeNiro in a boxing match!
R4. 10-10 (39-39)
Pretty much the same as round 3, but McCall didn't take charge immediately, and he was less intense on the attack.
$hit, Marvin Hagler is talking about the fight and I need to be watching this in mute
R5. 9-10 McCall (48-49 McCall)
Close round, difficult one to score but McCall was the aggressor, busier fighter. Holmes' mind games continue to be an interesting sub-plot, in a close round he tried really hard to psyche McCall out, and despite McCall displaying his agitation plainly, it didn't really interfere with his fight.
R6. 10-9 Holmes (58-58)
McCall is really hesitant in this round, Holmes looks supremely confident (as ever) but his work is tangibly more effective. He is the aggressor now and he really hurts McCall with some of his right hand shots. McCall has totally lost his enthusiasm for winning a round at the expense of eating half a dozen hard right hands. McCall looks really frustrated in the last minute of the round, he's bouncing around aimlessly with no clear strategy, he even switches to southpaw seemingly by accident in his state of indecision.
R7. 9-10 McCall (67-68 McCall)
Brilliant stuff from Holmes in the first minute, blinding jabs setting up hurtful combinations to head and body. But he decides to take the rest of the round off and I think he underestimates McCall's resolve here. Holmes does a good job of disguising his need for a breather as a choice of tactics to lure McCall to the corner, but McCall doesn't give him the rest he's looking for. He rediscovers his mental resolve and guts out a hard won round, ignoring Holmes' taunting and playing to the crowd.
R8. 9-10 McCall (76-78 McCall)
McCall shows alot more conviction this round. For the first time in the fight McCall is able to utilise his jab as an effective weapon, he doubles it up and follows through to get himself close and then stays on Larry's chest. Holmes is fighting for every inch and again, he makes McCall work hard for the round.
R9. 8-10 McCall (84-88 McCall)
Pretty even jabbing contest for the first 30 seconds, but it's McCall who follows up, drives Holmes into a neutral corner and spends the entire round beating Holmes up. Holmes takes a real beating to head and body and his legs look shaky at times, he manages the odd counter uppercut and is always at least trying to fight back, but McCall stays on his chest and punishes Holmes with clean shots to the head every time Holmes tries to open up.
R10. 10-9 Holmes (94-97 McCall)
Holmes wins a close round for me through sheer bloody minded determination. He is clearly very tired and even his jab has less snap on it, but he keeps it in McCalls face, who seems arm weary after throwing so many punches in the previous round. Another short respite to fix some loose tape on his glove (
the Holmes corner) gives Holmes enough wind to eke out the round.
R11. 9-10 McCall(103-107 McCall)
Holmes takes another beating this round. The round follows the same pattern as all of McCalls dominant rounds in this fight. Holmes starts lively, jabbing accurately but within 30 seconds he is driven to the ropes where he remains, taking a pasting on the inside. His resistence to McCall's barrages has gradually been worn down to the point where he now looks like he would be happy just to last the distance.
R12. 10-10 (113-117 McCall)
Might be a little generous to Holmes here but what the hey. He dictates the fight for the first half of the round and McCall's aggression in the second half of the round isn't effective enough for me. Not enough clean punches and Holmes tied him up and spoiled.
113-117 McCall
I found this fight very entertaining. Holmes looked in pretty good shape to me, he didn't seem alot heavier than he was against Tyson but my impression was that his punches were alot faster and harder here. At times his jab was awesome.
I probably go against popular opinion here, but I have to say I was impressed with both guys.
Holmes had real snap on his punches and enough experience to be competitive with anybody. He did run out of steam in the second half of the fight, but that was down to McCall keeping him under pressure and his body punches in particular.
I don't see how that could be considered a dissapointing result for McCall. He was in great condition, he had to fight hard for every round and he showed some real balls at times to walk through Larry and take 1 to land 2 punches. Admittedly, it became a little one-sided in the second half but Holmes was still competitive in the last round.