Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He is often considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.[1][2][3] He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Easton Assassin".
Holmes's left jab is often rated among the best in heavyweight boxing history.[4] In addition to holding the WBC heavyweight title from 1978 to 1983,
Holmes held the Ring magazine and lineal heavyweight titles from 1980 to 1985[5] and the inaugural IBF heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985.[6][7]
Holmes won his first 48 professional bouts, including victories over Ken Norton (the man he defeated in 1978 for the WBC championship), Muhammad Ali, Earnie Shavers, Mike Weaver, Gerry Cooney, Tim Witherspoon, Carl Williams, and Marvis Frazier. Holmes fell one short of matching Rocky Marciano's career record of 49–0 when he lost to Michael Spinks in a 1985 upset. Holmes retired after losing a rematch to Spinks the following year but made repeated comebacks. He was unsuccessful in four further comeback attempts (against Mike Tyson in 1988, Evander Holyfield in 1992, Oliver McCall in 1995 and Brian Nielsen in 1997) to regain a variation of the heavyweight title. Holmes fought for the final time in 2002, at age 52, against the 334lb Eric "Butterbean" Esch and ended his career with a record of 69 wins and 6 losses, with all of his losses coming in world title fights.[8]
Holmes is frequently ranked as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time[9] and has been inducted into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame. He is the only boxer to have defeated Muhammad Ali by stoppage and the last living boxer to have defeated Ali.
^"List of the 10 greatest heavyweight boxers of all time: Has Tyson Fury done enough to make the cut? | DAZN News UK". DAZN. 2022-04-24. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
LarryHolmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978...
1999 to 2001. Berbick is the only boxer to have fought Muhammad Ali, LarryHolmes, and Mike Tyson. At 22, Berbick represented his native Jamaica in the...
names in boxing, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, LarryHolmes, Tomasz Adamek, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Chris Byrd...
best known for his fight against undefeated Heavyweight World Champion LarryHolmes in which he lost by Split decision. Witherspoon also worked as a regular...
Cooney was ranked number 1 by the WBC and eager for a match with champion LarryHolmes.[citation needed] In 1981, he defeated former world heavyweight champion...
unanimous decision and to LarryHolmes in 1979 by a TKO in round 11. He hurt Ali in the second round and knocked down Holmes in the seventh round. Shavers...
was ordered to face the WBC's new mandatory challenger, LarryHolmes within 120 days. Holmes relinquished his World Boxing Council championship and accepted...
and as an underdog defeated long-reigning IBF heavyweight champion LarryHolmes (whose own 48–0 record up to that point was one victory short of tying...
Spinks (1978) USA 29. Muhammad Ali (1978 - 1979) Retired (3) USA 30. LarryHolmes (1980 - 1985) USA 31. Michael Spinks (1985 - 1988) USA 32. Mike Tyson...
1977, losing by unanimous decision in 15 rounds. He also fought against LarryHolmes for the world heavyweight championship in 1978, and lost by knockout...
a top 5 contender for two years, or retiring. Joe Louis Muhammad Ali LarryHolmes Wladimir Klitschko Lennox Lewis Vitali Klitschko Keys: Active title...
retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face LarryHolmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an...
challenge once more for the WBC heavyweight title in 1981 (losing to LarryHolmes by TKO in the third round), and the WBA cruiserweight title in 1986 (losing...
controversial unanimous decision. Norton also fought a slugfest with LarryHolmes in 1978 during the first defense of his championship, narrowly losing...
original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2019. Holmes, Larry; Berger, Phil (2007). LarryHolmes: Against the Odds. Macmillan. p. 124. ISBN 9781429975544...
side) after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler LarryHolmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating. Another important...
three times, scoring victories over former champions George Foreman and LarryHolmes, before suffering his first professional loss to Riddick Bowe in 1992...
Global Information