Larry Homes better than Ali? Should Holmes be GOAT?

[K-DOGG]

One of my dirty little boxing secrets (I've got a few): I don't rate Holmes as highly as most currently do. (Doesn't mean I'm calling him average.)

Don't feel bad. I don't rank him as highly as I used to. The longer I've gone on and had a chance to reflect and rewatch his fights, the more I've been able to put his place in history more in perspective.

He was a great fighter; but due largely to the politics of the day, we'll never truly know how good he was or wasn't. Fights that should have happened; but didn't, thanks in large part to Don King were Weaver II, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Thomas, Witherspoon II.

These matchups against the "second-best(s) of his reign would have gone a long way to clearing up the puzzle. This is why I hate alphabet soup titles.

There's one world.....there should be One World Champion in each division.

[Anthony342]

Don't feel bad. I don't rank him as highly as I used to. The longer I've gone on and had a chance to reflect and rematch his fights, the more I've been able to put his place in history more in perspective.

He was a great fighter; but due largely to the politics of the day, we'll never truly know how good he was or wasn't. Fights that should have happened; but didn't, thanks in large part to Don King were Weaver II, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Thomas, Witherspoon II.

These matchups against the "second-best(s) of his reign would have gone a long way to clearing up the puzzle. This is why I hate alphabet soup titles.

There's one world.....there should be One World Champion in each division.

Amen K-Dogg. And Holmes will always be one of my favorite heavyweights.

[Hop]

There's one world.....there should be One World Champion in each division.

Put that on T-shirts and bumper stickers, I say!

[greeh]

There's one world.....there should be One World Champion in each division.

/greeh

[joseph5620]

Don't feel bad. I don't rank him as highly as I used to. The longer I've gone on and had a chance to reflect and rewatch his fights, the more I've been able to put his place in history more in perspective.

He was a great fighter; but due largely to the politics of the day, we'll never truly know how good he was or wasn't. Fights that should have happened; but didn't, thanks in large part to Don King were Weaver II, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Thomas, Witherspoon II.

These matchups against the "second-best(s) of his reign would have gone a long way to clearing up the puzzle. This is why I hate alphabet soup titles.

There's one world.....there should be One World Champion in each division.

At the very least, the Mike Weaver rematch should have happened after Weaver became WBA champion. The first fight was good enough and exciting enough to warrant a rematch.

There was no excuse for Holmes not fighting him again.

[Ben Bolt]

In an English survey, people were asked who was the greatest athlete of all time.
It showed, that we chose the person who was at top when we ourselves were teenagers – the time in our life when we idolize celebrities at most.

I was a teen when Larry Holmes ruled, so – of course – I think he could have handled every other champ.
If I had been born in the late 30s, I still would have think that no one could ever have beaten Rocky Marciano.
And if I had been born some 15 years ago, I’d be convinced that Klitschkos are the best ever.

I believe every champ has deserved his moment of glory, being of great importance for the young fans of his time.

[Hop]

It showed, that we chose the person who was at top when we ourselves were teenagers.

And I was a teenager in the 1970's, and I believe it was the greatest heavyweight era of all-time . . . because it was the greatest heavyweight era of all-time!

Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Norton, Holmes, Shavers, Young, Lyle, Ellis, Patterson (tail end), Weaver, Quarry, Bonavena, Foster, Chuvalo, L. Spinks

[Boxing Bob]

I'm a serious Holmes fan, but no way is he better than Ali. I got him rated 3rd all time (behind Ali and Louis). I can't believe anyone actually thinks Foreman could have ever beaten Larry