Comments Thread For: Larry Holmes: Current Heavyweights "Couldn't Stand A Chance" In My Era

[SteveM]

The guy boxed for so ****ing long he technically went through the two best eras in HW history, and the era in between was where his prime years occurred. A weaker era than the ones its sandwiched between but still better from a pure skill perspective than today.

I think Fury is going to be a problem in any era because his attributes are so uncommon. There have been guys his size, and there have been guys that are his size and are also similarly athletic for that size, but i'm not sure theres ever been anyone that has the size, the athleticism AND the natural boxing ability.

As for the others of the current crop, they're generally not that impressive from a technical perspective, but guys like Wilder and AJ would still pick up wins in other eras because of their size and power. Although they wouldnt be considered 2 of the top 3 HWs in the world for years on end obviously.

George Foreman version 1 would have annihilated Wilder and Joshua. I'd have my money on Norton too. Frazier vs Parker or Usyk - don't make me laugh.

I agree with your take on Fury. His worst style matchups would be Mike Tyson and Muhammed Ali

Holmes vs Wilder and Joshua is a one sided beat down in case of Joshua including multiple knock downs and a quick KO against Wilder.

[BirdSong]

am i right in saying that holmes weighted in from 210 to 215 in his prime? thats pretty damn small for todays guys and would put him at a major disadvantage, i mean skillz pay the billz but some billz are larger than others

[Cobra Curry]

I did say we are getting better, but I didn't say we like to be punched more Inside game is hard, why bother when you can extend your 4 ft arm?

Fury, for all his dominance in the first Wilder fight, was almost knocked out. In the rematch he closed the distance and we all saw what happened.

Joshua is labelled as chinny but it strikes me that he doesn't know how to ride a punch. Fury to his credit knows how to do this, probably because he's been fighting since childhood.

[boliodogs]

Heavyweight boxing has returned to its status as the sport's glamour division for the first time in over two decades, but if you ask Hall of Fame fighter Larry Holmes, it still doesn't pass the smell test.
[Click Here To Read More]

Those retired champs almost always say that every time. Maybe he is right and maybe not but there is no way to know for sure without a time machine.

[Boxxymcboxface]

I love Larry Holmes but who else from his era would have been good enough to take AJ or Fury? Weaver? Bonecrusher Smith? Berbick? I doubt they make it a competitive fight. A lot of 80’s heavyweight champs were kinda lackluster.

[Sid-Knee]

Not only do AJ and Fury deal with the era of Holmes, but they deal with Holmes himself.

[Coachcody]

Size goes to today's HW's and skill and toughness goes to "in my day" HW's. ...The old school fighters had more competition on the way up, had to fight more often, used smaller gloves, had to go 15 rounds, and refs didn't stop the fight if a guy's knees get a little wobbly...

[Angeljuice]

The only advantage today's fighters would have that could make it tough for past generations is size. Otherwise, the skill and toughness of the fighters from the past eras greatly surpass what we see today. Fury is the most skilled of today's hw's and he's a goof in comparison to past heavyweights who boxed and moved like middle weights.

They WERE middleweights. A man could be a heavyweight at 13 stone back then (around 182 lbs). In fact you were a heavyweight at 175lbs.

A lot of the past heavyweights wouldn't be heavyweights at all today, some would even struggle to make Cruiserweight.

Most would be flattened by today's monsters whether they were better skilled or not.

[Angeljuice]

older people who have seen live the guys in question would have the best shot at answering who would be competitive with who in different eras, its all just opinions as we will never know, even if u are convinced someone ices someone else, upsets happen quite a lot too

The trouble is that was the glory years so anybody reminiscing would likely look back with rose tinted glasses.

[Jab jab boom]

They WERE middleweights. A man could be a heavyweight at 13 stone back then (around 182 lbs). In fact you were a heavyweight at 175lbs.

A lot of the past heavyweights wouldn't be heavyweights at all today, some would even struggle to make Cruiserweight.

Most would be flattened by today's monsters whether they were better skilled or not.

that was from eras prior to Holmes. Holmes fought at around 210-220. Still a hw by today's standards but small compared to guys that are 240-270.