How Big Of A Ducker Was Larry Holmes?

[Scott9945]

Holmes fought some terrible title fight opponents. He also failed to ever fight Page, Dokes, Coetzee, Thomas among others. Holmes never gave Witherspoon a well deserved rematch either.

Of course a lot of this has to do with Don King completely controlling the heavyweight division in the 1980's and Holmes later struggled to break free of him.

[Bigdaddy_Vh]

Larry never ducked anyone because he was scared of them. It is a well known fact that Larrys biggest motivator was money and he states this in many many interviews himself. If he avoided anyone purposely it was because there was more money to be made fighting someone else

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Larry never ducked anyone because he was scared of them. It is a well known fact that Larrys biggest motivator was money and he states this in many many interviews himself. If he avoided anyone purposely it was because there was more money to be made fighting someone else

I think the exception to that was Norton.

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Holmes fought some terrible title fight opponents. He also failed to ever fight Page, Dokes, Coetzee, Thomas among others. Holmes never gave Witherspoon a well deserved rematch either.

Of course a lot of this has to do with Don King completely controlling the heavyweight division in the 1980's and Holmes later struggled to break free of him.

Add Weaver & Norton to the list of guys who made it tough for Holmes & were never revisited.

[joseph5620]

Add Weaver & Norton to the list of guys who made it tough for Holmes & were never revisited.

The Weaver rematch should have happened when both were champions. Weaver gave Holmes hell in their one fight and the rematch should have been made.

[TBear]

Add Weaver & Norton to the list of guys who made it tough for Holmes & were never revisited.

Norton turned around and got destroyed by Earnie Shavers, so Holmes fought Shavers in a rematch instead.

A unification with Weaver would have been good but King who controlled the heavies was calling the shots. King knew having split titles meant more money, but being able to stage more heavyweight title bouts a year. Weaver did give Holmes a good fight the first time but I believe Holmes would have done much better if they fought a rematch knowing what to expect. A unification surely have helped Holmes's ranking but it was a promoters choice as he was publicly willing to do it.

If anyone, Pinklon Thomas could have been the fight that didn't happen. Looking back it would have been an easier fight than it looked like it would be when Thomas first beat Witherspoon.

[Matthewop]

oh yeah...i totally agree!

[GF of Boxing]

I do not know why people would say Holmes ducked anybody. Holmes suffered the same situation as the Klitschko brothers and Rocky Marciano. They all are fighting in a division when the so called "stock" of the heavyweight division is down and is also following the last predecessor who was also a great champion. Holmes came after the Ali era and dominate as champ. Marciano came after the Joe Louis era and dominate. And the Klitschko's came after the Lennox Lewis era and dominate as champ. And they all are doing what they are suppose to do and that is beat the individuals they put in front of them. And it is safe to say that no other era in professional boxing had a deeper pool of talent and great heavyweights in the heavyweight division than the 60's and the 70's. You had no choice but to fight everybody and anybody in the top 15 in that division could of been heavyweight champion at that time(if Ali wasn't around) Anyways as long as they do their job as champ they don't have worry about what people say because when its all said and done history and their record is going to be the one that judges their legacy.

[joseph5620]

Norton turned around and got destroyed by Earnie Shavers, so Holmes fought Shavers in a rematch instead.

A unification with Weaver would have been good but King who controlled the heavies was calling the shots. King knew having split titles meant more money, but being able to stage more heavyweight title bouts a year. Weaver did give Holmes a good fight the first time but I believe Holmes would have done much better if they fought a rematch knowing what to expect. A unification surely have helped Holmes's ranking but it was a promoters choice as he was publicly willing to do it.

If anyone, Pinklon Thomas could have been the fight that didn't happen. Looking back it would have been an easier fight than it looked like it would be when Thomas first beat Witherspoon.

I agree with everything there. I can't fault Holmes for not fighting Norton again. Norton went downhill fast after their fight and Holmes fought the guy who took Norton out in a round. I also think Holmes would have beaten Weaver in a rematch but I think Weaver would have given Holmes some problems again.

[Scott9945]

I do not know why people would say Holmes ducked anybody. Holmes suffered the same situation as the Klitschko brothers and Rocky Marciano. They all are fighting in a division when the so called "stock" of the heavyweight division is down and is also following the last predecessor who was also a great champion. Holmes came after the Ali era and dominate as champ. Marciano came after the Joe Louis era and dominate. And the Klitschko's came after the Lennox Lewis era and dominate as champ. And they all are doing what they are suppose to do and that is beat the individuals they put in front of them. And it is safe to say that no other era in professional boxing had a deeper pool of talent and great heavyweights in the heavyweight division than the 60's and the 70's. You had no choice but to fight everybody and anybody in the top 15 in that division could of been heavyweight champion at that time(if Ali wasn't around) Anyways as long as they do their job as champ they don't have worry about what people say because when its all said and done history and their record is going to be the one that judges their legacy.

So Holmes defended against weak challengers and didn't fight the top heavyweights of his era, and you don't know why people would say he ducked people? Really? Holmes had a much better group of challengers to pick from than Marciano or Klitschko.