Do you think Larry Holmes held back on Muhammad Ali when they fought?

[Bushidō]

Did Holmes not go 100% because he didn't want to damage Ali.

[Junito-Rulez]

Yes he did, he could have killed if he wanted to. He acted like a gentleman that night.

[MANGLER]

I thought so. Holmes showed his respect to a faded gr8. If he went full tilt he coulda done damage.

[Stoppage]

He did and I respect him for doing that. Pure class.

[Dynamite Kid]

Hell no! that is exactly what i didn't think he did. Holmes said he was holding back but if you actually re-watch that fight he is putting spite into every punch he threw imo. Holmes was defensive fighter anyway, he was never going to swarm Ali even if Ali was on Judah legs because that is not Holmes's style, safety first was Holmes, that probably explains why he relied on the jab more than any other fighter.

[bojangles1987]

I may not remember exactly, but wasn't Holmes looking at the ref basically wondering why he wasn't stopping it late in the fight?

[Bushidō]

I forget who said it but someone said Holmes would kill someone in the ring if you let him. But he did seem to hold back on Ali.

[Leakbeak]

He held back a little, but not too much because he didn't want to take any risks or look like he was not taking it seriously enough. He landed some combos on Ali with some considerable force!

[mickey malone]

Say what you want about Holmes.. He's a compassionate human being.. He cried uncontrolably after that fight.. YES.. He did hold back, as well as beckon the ref when he could see Ali was defenseless.. He also did the same thing while knocking the crap out of Marvis Frazier, almost as if to say, 'Don't Worry' to his anxious Father in the opposite corner..

Ali was already damaged before the Holmes fight.. He'd already started to slur the odd word and wasn't half as witty.. His physique was hideously soft and toneless, with the once blistering handspeed reduced to flailing arm slaps.. Whoever set him up to fight Berbick (probably King) should have been shot!

[Mersey]

This fight is still devastating to watch. Too see a man who was so great at one time beat up like that. It's terrible.