Is Larry Holmes the most underrated heavyweight of all time?

[them_apples]

I hear no one talk about this guy, yet I have seen plenty of guys share love and give credit to underrated champions like Marvin Hagler. What are your guys' thoughts? Is "The Easton Assassin" one of the greats (as said by Rummy's Corner) and should be given credit, or will he forever be underrated?

He is definitely underated and so is Sonny Liston.

[them_apples]

Holmes has the reputation of being traditionally underrated. I am not sure he is. He was ugly and lacked a big punch and a way with words. He had the charm of a wood rat and the humor of an ogre. Rack it up to ability and hard work that the man registers eight or nine million in the bank and owns a town instead of nothing but a bad name.

Personality was def his shortcoming. His ability was high level, although not truly tested in his prime - his razor thin loss to Holyfield makes me think he could hang in there with the best.

But aside from that he wanted to get Ali status - but didn't realize he sounded dumb with his speech impediment - unappealing physique and was generally not considered very good looking. I think he actually ruined his chances by pursuing a role he couldn't fill. He should have played the bad man card.

[The Old LefHook]

What happens when you state that a bunch of people are underrated? They all must move to a higher place. A fact of our universe is that there is a finite supply of small, whole numbers.

To me, underrating Holmes means rating him outside the top 10 AT at heavyweight. To overrate him is more difficult to pull off, it is true, since reasonable arguments that he is top 3, and even number 1, are not hard to find or hard to listen to.

[BigGeorge]

You should have fought The Easton Assassin, Big George. That is my all-time fantasy heavyweight matchup. ;p

lol I know Larry wanted that fight.

[iamboxing]

Holmes had a tough act to follow after Ali. He also did not have that Frazier-like rival to elevate his status and popularity. Holmes was a great champion. One of the greatest jabs ever, solid chin, smart boxer and tremendous heart. He was caught between the Ali and Tyson era. Ali was charismatic and known worldwide, Tyson was a KO artist--brash and ferocious. It would have been tough for most HW champs to flourish in between those two icons.

This. Sums it up perfectly.

[Dempsey-Louis]

I think I will end up echoing what has already been said.

Watching Holmes was to watch a perfect technician and when he was right, at his best, it was the worst of all things. His fights often held a complete absence of drama.

I believe watching film of Larry Holmes would have made Gene Tunney green with envy.

He was easy to appreciate, he is not underrated, but boy was he difficult to embrace.

Master technicians like Pep, Ali, Camacho, all who were as good as Holmes, (I said it that way purposely.) created their own drama, supplementing the drama their fists couldn't deliver with personality. Holmes didn't, couldn't, he was 'just' a master boxer, and for the fan who is always secretly hoping another 'Dempsey-Firpo' will suddenly break out, maybe he was just too masterful. His fights could become a redundancy of 10-9 rounds all looking profoundly the same.

For me only the Norton fight reached high drama, (and of course watching him get off the floor against Shavers, that was a class act,) otherwise the excitement isn't there.

Larry Holmes would have schooled Jack Dempsey; would have cut him up, knocked him out, but the 120,000 fans would have come to see Dempsey. That's why we're having this conversation; Larry Holmes isn't underrated, he is in the process of being forgotten.

[Ben Bolt]

Larry Holmes would have schooled Jack Dempsey; would have cut him up, knocked him out, but the 120,000 fans would have come to see Dempsey.

As a huge Holmes fan, I had come to see Holmes. But I like the quote above. Probably accurate.

[chrisJS]

I think he's rated accordingly. He was one of the most consistent and dominant heavyweight champions of all-time and one of the most active but unfortunately he missed two golden generations by not that much. He was the total package from a skill and athletic standpoint and was a fierce competitor with a great amount of will. He's usually seen rated around the 3-6 spot all-time on the lists I've seen and that sounds about right.

To echo a sentiment that's here he really did have the charisma of a rotten beansprout though.

[Anthony342]

Yeah and that jock strap comment about Marciano as well as his ornery personality is probably what kept his title defenses run from being even longer. If not, he probably at least gets the decision in one of those Spinks fights.

[billeau2]

I hear no one talk about this guy, yet I have seen plenty of guys share love and give credit to underrated champions like Marvin Hagler. What are your guys' thoughts? Is "The Easton Assassin" one of the greats (as said by Rummy's Corner) and should be given credit, or will he forever be underrated?

I don't know Big George, frankly I hear a lot about Holmes these days on these boards, at least I think I do. I hear his jab being called by some the best ever for the big guys, his lateral movement being really developed, his toughness...He even beat the bean!!


I always felt he was a great fighter, I am still evaluating him as far as his place among the best ever... I can tell you this for sure though...and BET on it! In the mid sixties when I was a mere suckle on me mum's breast and up until the early eighties at least, NO ONE would have said Larry did anything better than Ali...NOBODY. And it pissed Larry off to no end, man had a chip on his shoulder and who could blame him.

But now-a-days? Many pundits say his jab was better, and some say he was a better fighter than Ali.