Larry Holmes,was he exposed by Mike Spinks?

Question

I remember the fight in 1985 and was amazed at how this lightheavy outhustled,out muscled and out thought Holmes,and did the same in 1986 which I won a considerable bet on.Holmes appears to do best and look good against inferior opponents,Scott Franks,Marvis Frazier and the over the hill Norton,Ali and much overated Cooney.Spinks came in and was having none of it and in the first fight bashed up Holmes,and to a lesser extent did the same in 1986.Mike Tyson later put Holmes away with ease and I believe besides his arrogance these are the reasons why the public never took to him,besides his bad tempered rant against Marciano as well.It's my opinion he was a good champion,but not a great champion,Spinks proved that twice!

Answer 1

Well in my opinion Holmes was one of the most underrated Heavyweight Champions if not fighter ever. I have him in my top ten and remember the night he lost to Spinks.

And to all the conspiracy theory people, I guess Valuev was robbed last year so he wouldn't break Rocky's record as well eh?

Spinks won with a flash and move kinda style. He knew he couldn't knock out the champ so he would throw flurry's then get out of range. Holmes picked Spinks and nobody gave Spinks a chance. Holmes was 35 and flabby in the fight, I feel his wars from the 70's and the condition of the division at the time made Holmes take Spinks too lightly. I have both fights on video and watching without the sound on Spinks clearly won the first in my book.

The second fight Holmes was robbed royally without a doubt. He came in a bit better in shape and staggered Spinks several times.

Against the waaaay overrated Tyson, Holmes was 38 and took a $3 million dollar payday. Holmes beat everyone that was anyone in the division but his out of ring attitude towards fans, the media, and temper ( like jumping over the hood of a car to go after I think it was Berbick) His ridiculous disgracefull comments about Marciano and of course the shadow of Ali made him  probably the most overlooked champ in a long time.

I remember as a kid after Ali nobody cared about the Heavys until ''Iron Bite'' came along and beat his tomato cans and postmen and for some reason become a God to some. If Holmes circa 78' was around today he would demolish any fighter in the Heavyweight division with no problem.

Answer 2

I don't believe that Larry Holmes was exposed by Michael Spinks for several reasons:

1. Holmes was past his prime when they fought, if it was the Holmes that beat Ken Norton or Ali, then I don't think Spinks would have beaten him.

2. Styles make fights.  Spinks had the style to give Holmes problems, even if Holmes was in his prime, but again, I don't think he would have won had they fought if they were both in their primes.

Also, a lot of people thought he won those fights, especially the second one, but hey Spinks got the decisions.  And you mention Holmes being destroyed by Tyson, but Spinks was destroyed even worse, I mean look at Spinks on the way to the ring against Tyson and it looks like he's going to p**s his pants.  All in all, Holmes is one of the best heavyweights of all time and probably the best jabber of all time and I really don't think Spinks could have beaten the Holmes that beat Cooney, Norton, and Ali.

Answer 3

Larry Holmes wasn't exposed,  he didn't even lose.   Nobody wants Rocky Marciano's record to be broken so what they did is take it from Holmes on a close decision.   He beat Spinks both times he just should have been more decisive.   Boxing is a sport where the fighters don't always have the results in their own hands.   Holmes after beating Spinks & giving him a rematch could have hung up the gloves like Rocky & been 50-0, but then what would all the Rocky fans have to talk about regarding there average fighter?  Holmes was a great fighter & the only thing that Michael Spinks exposed is how boxing wants to preserve Rocky Marcino's record.

Answer 4

very harsh on holmes, he was just on the slide abit and alot of people thought he won those fights, also people remember the tyson fight but spinks could fight. holmes was a great champion not a good one

Answer 5

Larry had trouble with combination punchers.  He could make the first punch miss, but each successive punch after that had a better chance of landing.  Holmes was 35 and based his game upon speed and reflexes.  All that being said, The Associated Press had Holmes winning 9 rounds in the first fight, and everyone knows Larry won the second fight.  The only thing Spinks exposed was that Holmes' physical gifts had begun to deteriorate.

BTW, I could swear that you once postulated that Holmes was either the greatest or second greatest of all time.

***ADDITIONAL***

Go here guy..i remember the Q because you gave me a best answer for it

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 6

I agree with Big E the first fight was a win for holmes, he was robbed almost everybody agrees to that today, and many people suspect that the reason why they did that was to preserve the marciano record.  During the NASCAR Winston Cup race the next day on ESPN, commentator Larry Nuber basically reached out to Holmes and said to the television audience, "Larry, you won the fight." , Holmes won the first fight hands down, if you go by modern standards,that decision hurt the credibility of the sport for a very long time until the rise of mike tyson.

Answer 7

Larry Holmes was one of the greatest ever, hands down.  So, you think he looked best against inferior opponents?  Don't ALL fighters who ever put on a pair of gloves look best against inferior opponents?????????

Mike Spinks was better on those two nights, period.  He had Larry's number.  Nothing Larry did would help him gain an advantage. . . . . try and try again.  But one opponent should never decide where your place in history should be (see: Evander Holyfield).  Larry was not exposed.  Larry was beaten.

Answer 8

no

Answer 9

You never know when a fighter gets over the ridge or on the downhill side of his prime till after you see it. Then you may write it off as a bad night. But in Larry's case, he wasn't shot but he did slow down a little bit at 35. Some guys like Hopkins seem to stay at a high point forever. Others fall from greatness can be quick. Holmes was just coming back to the pack. His speed was eroding. All that being said I thought the first fight was real close. The only thing I think Spinks exposed was the fact that Holmes did slip a bit.