I think he was quite underated. Shame Hopkins caught him at the end of his prime, for it coulda been a really good fight. Hopkins actually said after Holmes dethroned Quincy Taylor back in '96 that he wanted to fight the winner of this fight, which he assumed would be Taylor, who was the favorite because nobody knew who Holmes was. Keith came at a time when the division was in disarray, when all its former great fighters like Roy Jones, Julian Jackson, G-Man McClellan, Herol Graham, Mike McCallum and James Toney had either retired or moved up. It was an ungrateful time to be the mw champion at.
What I liked about him is that even tho he wasn't a devastating puncher, he worked hard to get the stoppage win and knew how to do it. He had pop and was dangerous for anyone at his best. Good at both the inside and outside. He got screwed against Cherifi in the first fight obviously and avenged it in the rematch by destroying him. He also stopped the still prime Richie Woodhall in the last round. And Paul Vaden, the former lmw champ. Most of his title fights were won by tko in fact, which is impressive. Very big mw too, one of the tallest ever.
What I liked about him is that even tho he wasn't a devastating puncher, he worked hard to get the stoppage win and knew how to do it. He had pop and was dangerous for anyone at his best. Good at both the inside and outside. He got screwed against Cherifi in the first fight obviously and avenged it in the rematch by destroying him. He also stopped the still prime Richie Woodhall in the last round. And Paul Vaden, the former lmw champ. Most of his title fights were won by tko in fact, which is impressive. Very big mw too, one of the tallest ever.
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