Larry Holmes believes he may be the greatest

[johnbook]

I am aware of that but you can only fight who they put in front of you.

True, but you can argue that all but Spinks were past it by then.

Holmes went life and death vs Snipes [no ATG there] and arguably lost to Witherspoon, many of us scored for Witherspoon

So if anything Holmes may be a bit overrated.
As Snipes proved no granite chin as some claim.

A great HW, with an awesome jab and other attributes, but not top 5.

[ecto55]

This is no surprise, Holmes always had an uncomfortably large ego...with a good dose of needing to press his claim / overcompensate because he wasn't among the Ali/Frazier/Foreman trilogy.

This context, coupled with the garbage Spinks decisions, is what caused that Marcia jockstrap to spill out. The real Holmes revealeth.

Personally, I think Holmes is wrong on this one...I have him a half step behind Ali/Frazier/Foreman.

[them_apples]

Ali gets all the media adoration over hype but Larry Holmes truly might have been better, sharper, better jab, more dominant. 20 defenses before being robbed. Holmes was so dominating he made his era look weaker than it was. If Holmes had Ali's personality and vice versa, each era would be looked at differently. Ali's personality and color made his era look better and made his opponents more colorful and interesting. Holmes was a different type of man and he did not make his opponents look better. But he whooped everyone. Who could really say Cooney and Shavers and Weaver were not as good as Frazier and Foreman and Norton?

Media manipulation and media favoritism could be the reason most view Ali as better than Holmes but it may be inaccurate.

Maybe Holmes is the best.

Larry himself wouldn't rule it out.

http://ringobserver.com/2019/11/25/a...-larry-holmes/

Holmes competition was decent. but he didn't make it look bad. he barely got by Norton, and Norton at that point imo was way too blown up, the version that fought Ali woulda beat Holmes.

[Anthony342]

The 20 defenses were after he only won the WBC title. You have to start counting defenses after Holmes won the WBA title as well, since IBF came about later. A quick look at his record shows he never held that title, but was lineal champ after beating a shot Ali and he has 12 defenses after that, which is still pretty good.

So Larry Holmes believes he may be the greatest? Hey, why not? Somebody has to.

[a.rihn]

So Larry Holmes believes he may be the greatest? Hey, why not? Somebody has to.

Exactly this.

[QueensburyRules]

- -The now morbidly obese Lar never couched his greatest claim in "may be."

Nor did he ever even fight for the WBA title in his undefeated run much less defend it.

He ducked it and eventually the WBC that he forfeited...Duh!!!

[BattlingNelson]

- -The now morbidly obese Lar never couched his greatest claim in "may be."

Nor did he ever even fight for the WBA title in his undefeated run much less defend it.

He ducked it and eventually the WBC that he forfeited...Duh!!!

There was a reason for him not going for WBA 'glory' though. That reason was that WBA sanctioned fights and fighters from South Africa during the days when apartheid hate was in zenith.

[BattlingNelson]

oh and Holmes was always vocal of thinking of himself as the greatest. He said so even while he was champ. I remember it specifically before Cooney where Holmes was asked how it was to supercede(sp?) the greatest (Ali). Holmes replied that Ali fans might feel that Ali was the greatest, but that Holmes fans thought it was him.

[BKM-]

As sub-par as his quality of opposition is for having such a big mouth, it could have been much better too as Holmes didn't even fight a some solid primed fighters who were around in his era.

[cfang]

Holmes is defo overrated at the moment. He was a great champion but a few things to point out

He lost to mike spinks
He struggled past norton and shavers
his best wins are cooney and witherspoon (v close)

Ali was a class above him.