The Day I Saw Holmes Arrive
Many boxing observers have conveyed to me over the years that they knew by 1976-77, that Larry Holmes was a future champ. This is a fraternity to which I am not a member. I wasn't convinced about Holmes potential in 1977. Holmes had been on my radar since the early 1970s. I knew of his stoppage defeat to hard hitting Nick Wells as an amateur, and watched Duane Bobick knock the hell out of him at the 1972 Olympic trials final. As of 1976-77 after turning pro in 1973, Holmes was looking unimpressive beating journeymen Joe Gholoston and Fred Askew. He scored a big decision win over Roy "Tiger" Williams in early 1976, but was shook pretty good in the process. As late as September of 1977, Holmes looked so-so beating Fred Houpe, who former heavyweight champ Joe Louis owned a piece of. At the time I was starting to believe Holmes couldn't punch, wasn't that tough, and was a cheap Muhammad Ali wannabe. By late 1977, I was convinced Holmes only claim to fame was bettering Ali in the gym when they worked together. Which meant nothing to me. Since Ali was the worst gym fighter in the world, and sometimes lost the decision sparring Jimmy Ellis in the sixties.
On Saturday afternoon March 25th 1978, it all changed. That was the day Holmes fought fifth ranked Earnie Shavers, who he once worked as a sparring partner for. Shavers, in his last fight six months earlier, shook Muhammad Ali a few times over 15-rounds en-route to losing a unanimous decision, failing to capture the Undisputed Heavyweight title. The fight with Shavers would provide the ultimate lie-detector test as to just how good Holmes was or could be in my opinion. When the fight concluded, I had my answer regarding what I thought of Holmes. And that was not only is he a future heavyweight champ, but he's the next.
For 12-rounds Holmes put on a boxing clinic and won 34 of 36 minutes versus Shavers. Shavers, who had dynamite in both hands, was reduced to looking to land a lottery punch by the end of the fifth round. Holmes jab looked better than I'd ever seen it. He threw them in multiples, and they were hard and fast. And when Shavers was there for the taking, Holmes cut loose with his right cross with laser accuracy, disrupting Shavers aggression more so than Ali had six months earlier. Larry's legs enabled him to dictate the pace and geography of the fight, and he even looked a little like Cassius Clay circa 1964. Holmes showed the hunger and desire you look for in a championship caliber fighter. He never let up, and to this day the only fight I think he fought more purposeful during, was his title defense against Gerry Cooney four and a half years later. Three months after beating Shavers, Holmes won a split decision over Ken Norton to capture the WBC heavyweight title. Something I had no doubt he'd do, but only after I saw his official arrival on March 25, 1978 during his first fight with Earnie Shavers. Thirty years after Holmes beat Shavers, I consider him one of the five greatest heavyweights of all time.
In 2005, I ranked Larry Holmes number four on my IBRO heavyweight ballot.
Labels: amateur boxing, Cassius Clay, Earnie Shavers, Frank Lotierzo, Heavyweight title, Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali
posted by Frank Lotierzo @ 11:33 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I caught onto Holmes early, but in a way that was consistent with the kind of fighter he was. It wasn't as if I suddenly thought, "This guy is amazing." It was more a matter of looking around and not being able to picture how anyone in the division could beat him. There were some semi to very dangerous heavyweights fighting at the time (not all-timers, but genuine talents like Tim Witherspoon, Carl Williams, Earnie Shavers, Bonecrusher Smith, Renaldo Snipes, and David Bey), and I always expected Holmes to handle them. In fact, there wasn't a time before his first retirement that I thought Holmes could lose.
Once Holmes beat Shavers in 1978, I knew he was the best heavyweight out there. That said, it wasn't until then that I thought he could win the title. After he won the title, I never picked against him once. That was partly because I thought he was really good, and also because I thought his level of opposition was good, but not outstanding.
I didn't start thinking of him as an all-time great until after he beat Gerry Cooney. Cooney wasn't a great fighter, but Holmes had to be great in order to defeat him the night they fought.
In my opinon, the only thing that isn't great about Holmes, was the level of opposition he faced. But that's not his fault. It's just that he never fought one great fighter when he was at his best, or when they were at their best. I also believe Holyfield & Lewis fought and beat better opposition than did Holmes. But he'd beat both of them at their best, and clearly ranks above them.
There's no question about it, Holmes belongs among the top-five greatest heavyweights ever.
Frank,
Do you think that what you saw in Holmes against Shavers in 1978 was something (or a number of things) that hadn't been there before, or was it a matter of your really seeing things for the first time that had been there all along? If it was really a new Larry on display -- or at least a dramatically improved Larry -- where did that sudden advancement come from? The question of when -- and why -- a fighter matures into the "man in full" is an interesting one.
And, by the way, why the heck didn't you post this three days ago -- on the actual 30th anniversary? (Timing is everything.)
Rich, the difference was, Holmes looked like a legit contender versus Shavers. To me he looked stronger, smarter and better, not flimsy and sometimes sloppy. As I said I think it was his arrival. The Holmes I'd seen the year before that, wouldn't have beat Shavers.
Frank's post peaked my interest in watching some video footage of Holmes. One of the things that again struck me was how Larry used his left jab and, more specifically, his left glove to blind an opponent so that he could then throw either his straight right or, as often as not, a sneaky right uppercut. It's particularly impressive in the final round of the Cooney fight, where what sets Gerry up are punches that catch him after his attention has been diverted. Although I suspect this observation will raise Frank's hackles, the techniques that Holmes uses with his left are very close to those used by Jack Johnson over half a century earlier. I've never seen any other heavyweights (including Ali) who had anywhere close to the ability that Johnson and Holmes had to steer their opponents with their jab or to block their opponents line of vision with either an open glove or the placement of their left glove. It's about as sophisticated as boxing gets.
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