Time & Perspective Quote by Larry Holmes

Holmes is doing two things at once: praising Ali’s brilliance while quietly re-centering the one trait casual fans tend to romanticize away. “Slick” and “could move” are the easy compliments, the poetry people already attach to Muhammad Ali. The pivot is “could take a very good punch.” That’s not marketing language; it’s the grim, shop-floor truth from a heavyweight who knows what happens when the highlight reel ends and the other guy lands anyway.

The intent feels corrective. Ali’s legend often gets packaged as speed, charisma, pretty combinations, the rope-a-dope mythos. Holmes drags the conversation back to durability as an elite skill - the unglamorous capacity to absorb damage without losing the plot. In boxing, “making you miss” is the dream, but everyone gets hit. By foregrounding toughness, Holmes insists Ali wasn’t just an artist; he was structurally built for the ugliest parts of the job.

There’s subtext in the matter-of-fact catalog: “hand speed and combinations,” “make you miss,” “one of the greatest…in my opinion.” Holmes isn’t auditioning as a fan; he’s issuing peer review. That final hedge, “in my opinion,” reads less like uncertainty than respect for boxing’s hierarchy: greatness isn’t declared by applause, it’s earned in shared risk. Coming from Holmes - a champion often cast as the guy who followed the party - it’s also a subtle claim to authority. He’s not borrowing Ali’s aura; he’s verifying it, punch by punch.