Former heavyweight champion, Larry Holmes, kicked off in the sport in 1973 and hung the gloves up for good in 2002. It turns out, he’s not a fan of what he’s been watching ever since.
Holmes most notable victories include those over Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, and Tim Witherspoon. He had a lethal left jab and retired from the sport with a quite incredible record of 69 wins from 75 fights. The hall of fame beckoned, of course.
He spoke to Fight Hub TV about those at the top of the sport today. What does one of the all-time greats think of his successors? It turns out, not very much.
“The fighters today are not the fighters when I fought. We fought the top ten, we didn’t duck nobody. Look, Ernie Shavers, Gerry Cooney, Kenny Norton – all them strong guys. Today, these guys don’t want to fight.”
The man who handed Muhammed Ali the only stoppage loss of his career, albeit when Ali was 38 years old, reckons that today’s heavyweights are nothing compared to how they were in his day. Asked about Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder specifically, ‘The Easton Assassin’ was scathing in his review.
“They don’t have no skills! They don’t know how to throw one-twos, and move out to protect yourself.”
“Listen, you gotta give punches, you shouldn’t take punches, and that what he [Fury] does, he takes punches. I guess that’s what he wants to do to prove to people that he can take a punch. The game of boxing is hit and don’t get hit.”
Fans will form their own opinions on how Holmes sees the skill level in today’s division, however it’s hard to argue about his first point in wanting the best to face the best. That is something everyone who loves boxing can get on board with.