Raw Lennox vs Old Larry, 1992 Larry claims he was badly untrained vs Evander due to recovering from retina surgery then lost a contact lens in the 3rd. So lets take him at his word and take the Larry who fought Mercer vs the green Lennox who fought taxi drivers in the year before Razor I think it's close! Gimme Larry 7-5
92??? You mean the year Lewis annihilated Ruddock??? That version of Lewis would quite possibly kill the 92 Holmes. Larry would be gone inside of 5.
Yeah, Larry was too old in 92 to handle that kind of firepower. Not only firepower. Lewis' speed as well. You need the early 80s Holmes in order to win this matchup.
Same Lewis who went the distance with Levi Billups then had a close one with Tony Tucker, next one. Basically drew with Mercer a few fights later. He was pretty raw in mid 1992, explosive but dodgy balance, over eager. Also Lewis was always susceptible to being outjabbed and struggled whenever he was. So if old Larry could come through the fire i think he makes it awkward. But as yous say, maybe he can't and he just gets blown away
Nah, I can't see Larry avoiding the right hand all night. Not the 92 Holmes. And once Holmes is in big trouble, Lewis is one of the best finishers in heavyweight history.
I'm just not seeing Holmes having the legs and quickness to deal with the physicality of a Lewis or Bowe in the 90s. The peak Holmes might beat them because he was much quicker and sharper then, and due to that quickness he had more power. He doesn't have the power to hurt Lewis in 92.
Maybe i was more impressed by Larry's performances vs Mercer & Holyfield than some. Mercer coming off nearly decapitatiing Morisson, Holyfield one away from the Bowe fight, Holmes very competitive at that level, even nursing an injury. But you're right that maybe the size makes this a whole different ball game
Lewis was taller and quicker than Holmes, and his bread and butter was countering jabs with his back-hand. Holmes also struggled when guys jabbed with him. It was his greatest strength, but it could be used against him. I can't see Holmes doing too well if Lewis times him and just goes berserk. If not an early stoppage, it's certainly a rough start for Holmes.
Might look like the Frank Bruno fight where he gets out-boxed up until the point where he lands a massive left hand
It was actually a leaping left hook which done for Bruno but I agree in principle. Prime Holmes is a nightmare for Lewis though. I pick Lewis over pretty much any heavyweight in a best of 10 series, but I think prime Holmes is the one guy outside of Ali I wouldn't place any money on.
The only time Holmes stayed down he had a ref mounting him with his hand in his mouth. Lennox definitely could....but im standing by my minority (mental) pick Holmes 7-5!
I dunno about all that. I could see prime Holmes beating prime Lewis, but I'm not as confident as you. The 97-00 Lewis might be too much for any version Holmes. Prime Holmes beats Bowe though. I'm very confident in saying that.
Lewis always had problems with guys that could jab with him - Bruno, Mercer, Vitali etc. He'd be going up against the best heavyweight jab in history here.
