Joe Louis vs Larry Holmes

[Rusty Tromboni]

prime Holmes never fought a puncher like Louis.

Yeah, the closest were Shavers and Cooney; who both had more single-shot power, but weren't the whole package that Louis was. Both very limited.

Based on the Shavers fights, I suspect Louis eventually gets to him. Bigger, if less skilled, men could also succeed against Holmes due to their power: I'd add Lewis and Wilder to your (short) list of punchers to beat Holmes.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Good post. But, along with putting your foot to the metal, you gotta be able to not wear yourself out.
Fatigue hits guys in different ways, genetics.

Conditioning was never Ken's issue. That guy trained hard, and juiced harder. His chin was his weakness.

Louis would be even more effective at slowing Norton down with his body shots. Holmes wasn't tricky like Conn, he was there to be hit.

[billeau2]

Yeah, the closest were Shavers and Cooney; who both had more single-shot power, but weren't the whole package that Louis was. Both very limited.

Based on the Shavers fights, I suspect Louis eventually gets to him. Bigger, if less skilled, men could also succeed against Holmes due to their power: I'd add Lewis and Wilder to your (short) list of punchers to beat Holmes.

Absolutely. Good post. Shavers hit hard as hell but was on the whole not as accurate and his big shots could be avoided, though he did get to Larry on occasion.