If the two most unpopular former heavyweight champions met, who would win between Len Lewis and Larry Holmes?
Lewis was 41-2-1 with 32 shutouts after being stopped twice. Hasim Rahman, 34-2 in five rounds towards the end of his career. He stopped Rahman in their next fight. He put his hands on his side and was stopped by Oliver McCall, 24-5. In their rematch, he stopped McCall, who had a nervous fit of crying after the fight.
Born in Jamaica, he moved to amateur fights in Canada. He won the 1988 Olympic gold medal in Seoul, South Korea, defeating Riddick Bowe of the USA. He moved to the United Kingdom for his professional career.
He ended his professional career by stopping Vitali Klitschko, 32-1, by a split and retired from boxing. He was behind after five rounds and did not want to give Vitali the deserved rematch.
Holmes went 48-0 and lost to light heavyweight champion and former Olympic gold medalist Michael Spinks in back-to-back fights.
After losing to Spinks in the first, he made a racist remark: “Marciano couldn’t wear my brace!” I guess he forgot that Spinks beat him, not Marciano, who would take his heart and knock him out!”
Holmes escaped holding his jab his entire career and Marciano would have been under if he was shorter, maybe with a right uppercut, and in my opinion broke his elbow.
At 44-0, Holmes stopped Marvis Frazier 10-0 in the first round and afterwards said “that’s for the whipping your dad gave me in sparring!”
Holmes finished with a record of 69-6. He lost to Dane Brian Nielsen, 31-0, by split decision. Nielsen was 49-0 when he lost to Dicky Ryan.
In Holmes’ last fight, he jumped off the canvas in the final round, defeating ‘King of the Four Rounds’ Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch, 66-2-3. He felt he would have been stopped if the four-run game had been scheduled for Esch’s first 10, but he didn’t.
So who wins between Lewis and Holmes?
