Lorenzo Zanon vs. Larry Holmes

[coreygardner]

I tried to look up the fight, but youtube won't come through on my computer.

What happened in the Zanon vs. Holmes fight?

I've heard that Zanon boxed well, but was knocked out in the sixth round.

Was it a clean knockout of Zanon?


How would you rate Lorenzo Zanon, former Italian Heavyweight Champion, European Heavyweight Champion, and world title challenger?

[Cap]

He was easily one of the all time best Italian heavyweights named Lorenzo. Unless there was another one.

[giacomino]

Saw him a couple of times in the 1970s, early 80s. Decent enough boxer, but not physically big, didn't have a punch and was chinny. He wasn't going to last the distance with Holmes or any other bigger, stronger heavyweight with a punch

[dempseyfire]

Zanon was one of the better European HWs of the 70s . .I'd definitely rank him over Dunn and Coopman. He actually looked really impressive taking an faded Quarry to school for 9 or so rounds before Jerry landed one of his left hooks clean (which convinced Jerry to not continue his comeback, although sadly not permanently). But he had very little power and a weak jaw.

[Cap]

He was a third-rater then who never deserved a title shot and he'd probably be ranked in the top ten nowadays.

[Dart340]

And he still outjabbed Holmes for the first three rounds....

Reminded me of the actor that played Fred's next door neighbor, "Julio" on Sanford And Son.

[Ambling Alp II]

He was a very good boxer, but had no chin. He was easily beating Quarry (who was coming off a layoff), got tagged and that was it.
He was actually outboxing Norton, got tagged and that was it.

He wasn't as competitive against Holmes. I remember that the fight (while televised) was on a weekend afternoon (I think a Sunday), not even Primetime, which was rare for the time for a heavyweight title fight.

[drunkenpiper36]

It was the 1980 version of Klitschko vs Leapai.

[JimAllcorn]

Zanon may have been THE best of the European heavyweights of that particular era.
In fact, very briefly, it was he that was penciled in as Ali's first post Norton III opponent as he'd just beaten the then undefeated Alfredo Evangelista. Unfortunately for Zanon, Angelo Dundee didn't like what he saw of him when he watched him on film as he was worried about another Jimmy Young type scare for Ali in which he'd be forced to come forward to make the fight & he'd wind up looking awful in the process. So, Dundee convinced Ali's management & the network, NBC to switch opponents & give the title shot to the much more predictable ( but even more undeserving ) Evangelista who was a predictable, slow, walk in banger with average power.
Who, as it turns out, still gave the stale, under-motivated Ali a tougher than expected & extended the legend the full 15 round distance.
Had Dundee & company just gone with Zanon as the challenger, it's interesting to speculate what would have happened.
Would Zanon's unorthodox, safety first style have given Ali similar problems to what Young was able to manage making for a razor close fight or would Ali have still had enough left in the tank to rise to the occasion after Zanon proved troublesome & become aggressive enough to get Zanon out of there? Just 12 months earlier, the answer would have been a resounding yes, just like he'd taken out the UK's Richard Dunn. But, the post-Norton III Ali just lacked the snap on his shots which led to a significant power shortage as the only fighter that Ali had in any sort of trouble was Earnie Shavers during the 15th & final round of their MSG classic. And the only reason that Shavers was in trouble was because Earnie ( who was known for often running out of gas after failing to score his usual early round KO victory ) was TOTALLY exhausted after going 14 tough, close rounds at a fast pace.
But, power shortage or not for Ali, I tend to believe that at the prospect of losing to awkward, balding Italian that Ali would have managed to generate enough ZIP on his combos to get Zanon out of there somewhere between rounds 11 to 15.

[drunkenpiper36]

I think Francesco Damiani was a better Italian heavyweight than Zanon.

[Barry Washington]

I think Francesco Damiani was a better Italian heavyweight than Zanon.

Likewise

If I remember the Holmes/Zanon fight the way I think I do it wasn't that competitive