Keith Holmes

[Pastrano]

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.

[joseph5620]

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.

Hopkins was also at the end of his prime. I guess boxrec didn't tell you that.

[Pastrano]

Hopkins was also at the end of his prime. I guess boxrec didn't tell you that.

Hopkins peaked late. He didnt reach prime until around '97, when he was 32. And he exited prime around 2004. The fight happened in 2001.

[joseph5620]

It told me you are a dip****, but I knew that already. And for your info, GENIUS, Hopkins peaked late. He didnt reach prime until around '97, when he was 32. And he exited prime around 2004. The fight happened in 2001. Anything else?

Hopkins was 36 when he fought Holmes. Try to stay on topic. And Hopkins didn't "exit" his prime when he was 39 years old. Just more stupidity. Looking at his late career big wins on boxrec is not going to tell when he was in his prime. I know that's what you're doing. Although I understand you have no other source because you obviously were not following boxing or Hopkins when he truly was in his prime.

[NChristo]

I always liked Holmes, wasn't anything that really stuck out about him and made him a special boxer, good all around, tough guy, took quite a beating from Hopkins but still gave it what he could.

Don't know that much about him really outside the sport but he always seemed like a classy guy as well.

[TBear]

Holmes basicly fought and was ranked as a junior middleweight before fighting Taylor for the WBC middleweight title. After losing to Hopkins he tried dropping back down to 154 before calling it quits. I think if he stayed there he would have done pretty good.

[Pastrano]

Holmes basicly fought and was ranked as a junior middleweight before fighting Taylor for the WBC middleweight title. After losing to Hopkins he tried dropping back down to 154 before calling it quits. I think if he stayed there he would have done pretty good.

He finished as a lhw though.

[Emon723]

A unification match up with William Joppy was interesting through.

[TBear]

He finished as a lhw though.

True, don't boxers usually end up their career at a weight they shouldn't be at. I'm thinking about guys like Wilfredo Gomez as a junior welterweight and Michael Nunn as a heavyweight.

A unification match up with William Joppy was interesting through.

That would have been very interesting. Unfortunitely they were both Don King fighters.

[ИATAS]

Holmes basicly fought and was ranked as a junior middleweight before fighting Taylor for the WBC middleweight title. After losing to Hopkins he tried dropping back down to 154 before calling it quits. I think if he stayed there he would have done pretty good.

he was a big middleweight I never saw him fight at 154 but he must have been huge. I believe he was between 6'2-6'3.

Anyways, he was a good fighter. As for the hopkins fight, I don't know where holmes was in his career as far as prime goes but he was decent enough to go the distance and hopkins had to make it an ugly fight. If I remember correctly, uncharacteristically hopkins kept hitting low. I think hopkins felt Holmes trunks were too high or something but hopkins was in jeopardy of getting DQ'd, which obviously would have changed the course of history. It wasn't those sneaky little low blows hopkins does from time to time in a clinch with the ref on the other side, they were regular body shots. Almost like a Golota moment but not nearly as blatant as hopkins kept getting warned but kept doing it.

Another interesting fight for that time period would have been Antwun Echols vs Keith Holmes.