BoxRec

Watched the fight yesterday, had not seen this one for a long time!

I know Marvis may have been out of his depth, but Holmes was pure class. Holmes really was a brilliant fighter/boxer. His jab is the best ever in HW history, IMO. The right-hand which sent Marvis down was a real nice shot, too!

However, Holmes shows his class as a man as well as a fighter, when he invites the referee, Mills Lane, to stop the fight, as Larry feels Marvis is taking too much punishment, which I would agree with.

Larry made no secret that he did not want to fight Marvis; Larry said he grew up in the gym with Marivs & they were friends etc. However, Holmes also said he would have to put Marvis 'in his place' to get the fight over with asap!

Larry seemed almost sad, apologetic when he and Marvis embraced after the bout.

Holmes was pure class, both in and out of the ring. Larry's right up there with the very, very best HW's ever!

I would agree he is up there with the best, though this was not one of those defining moments. At least boxing wise.

Glen Johnson did something of the sort when he beat George Jones. He had Jones defenseless on the ropes and was putting it on him, and he waved over to the ref to stop it. He kept punching til the ref broke it up, but he's a boxer and that's what he's supposed to do.

I wonder if George Jones' past had weighed in the back of Glen's mind. I know Glen is a topnotch kind of guy, but you have to wonder.

That was one of the biggest damn match ups in history of pugilism. It almost damn near ranks up there with Patterson vs Rademacher.

Holmes had been fighting the best of his era, which isn't saying much, as possibly Cooney and Shavers and Norton were the sole best people he ever faced off with---and Frazier was strictly a green horn.

He was only 10-0 with his BEST win over faded Joe Bugner, whose best was long before him (ironically Bugner made a great comeback in the late 90's). Then he was blown away by Holmes in the first, and let's face it Holmes wasn't known for his punching power.

The biggest wins of Marvis Frazier's career were over Ribalta, Tillis, Bonecrusher Smith and Bugner---and other than Ribalta and Smith, which isn't saying much at all---the other men were over the hill. Bugner's best was in the early 70's and "Quick" wasn't quick at all.

Holmes ducked Page and Coetzee for this little nothing fight that meant little if anything---what Holmes should have done was made it his goal to unify the titles---but he was all about money, and looking at his record only solidifies that, as he fought nobody all in their prime, or never had a prime worth mentioning.