Larry Holmes named a famous heavyweight who he considers several of the all-time greats, including himself, Muhammad AliJoe Fraser and Ken Norton, would win.
Holmes remained undefeated world champion between 1978 and 1985before suffering a surprising and controversial defeat to Michael Spinks.
Prior to this, many suspected that ‘The Easton Killer’ was past his prime at 35, but he was nevertheless heavily favored to retain his IBF title against Spinks.
Their immediate rematch resulted in another controversial victory for Spinks, the former light heavyweight king who suffered a first-round knockout of Mike Tyson about two years later.
However, just a few months prior, Holmes, who had not wrestled since his rematch with Spinks, attempted to dethrone the ferocious wrecking machine from Brooklyn, New York.
It didn’t go to plan, of course, as Tyson took a four-round beating and resumed his merciless surge before losing to “Buster” Douglas in 1990.
During 1989 interview with Bryant GumbleHowever, Holmes insisted that Tyson would not have achieved the same success during his heavyweight era.
“Anybody in this room (including Ali, Frazier and Norton) could beat Mike Tyson. You’d never hear of him (in this era).”
Despite the generational feud, Holmes and Tyson are considered among the greatest heavyweights of all time, along with Ali, Frazier and Norton.
In fact, after this interview with Gumble, Holmes returned and wrestled until 2002.