Larry Holmes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Larry Holmes | |
 |
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Larry Holmes |
| Nickname | Easton Assassin |
| Weight | Heavyweight |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | November 3, 1949 |
| Birth place | Cuthbert, Georgia, USA |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 75 |
| Wins | 69 |
| Wins by KO | 44 |
| Losses | 6 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
- For the politician and activist, see Larry Holmes (Marxist).
Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949 in Cuthbert, Georgia) is a former world heavyweight boxing champion. Noted boxing historian Bert Sugar has listed Holmes as one of the greatest boxers in history (Sugar 2006). He was born in Georgia, but he has spent the majority of his life in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the state's Lehigh Valley region, from which Holmes gained his famed boxing nickname, "The Easton Assassin".
Holmes won his first 48 professional fights, falling just one short of matching Rocky Marciano's all-time boxing record for heavywieghts of 49 consecutive wins to start a boxing career.
In a 1978 fight generally considered one of the sport's greatest ever, Holmes went toe-to-toe with boxing great Ken Norton, winning the majority of rounds in a closely contested fight that gave Holmes the world heavyweight championship. Holmes defended his heavyweight championship against some of the sport's greatest fighters, including the legendary Muhammad Ali, whose trainer intervened to stop Holmes' battering of Ali in the tenth round.
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[edit] Boxing Career
During the early part of his boxing career, Holmes sometimes was a sparring partner to then heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, whose training camp was in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. But Holmes trained predominantly in the Lehigh Valley.
Holmes first gained credibility as a contender when, in 1978, he upset Earnie Shavers, winning almost every round of a 12 round bout. Holmes' victory over Shavers set up a title shot between Holmes and WBC heavyweight champion Ken Norton. Holmes won the WBC heavyweight title on June 9, 1978, defeating Norton in a 15 round slug fest.
[edit] Dominant Champion
In October 1980, Ali came out of retirement to face Holmes, who had by this time defended his title 7 times. Ali was a shadow of his former self, and Holmes dominated the fight. Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee, stopped the fight after the tenth round. Holmes successfully defended the WBC belt 17 times in all until December 11, 1983, when he voluntarily relinquished that title for the championship of the new International Boxing Federation.
[edit] Controversial losses to Michael Spinks
As IBF heavyweight champion, Holmes successfully defended the title 3 times, bringing his total number of title defenses to 20. In September 1985, he lost the IBF crown to undisputed world light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks by a close decision. This loss was particularly galling for Holmes because had he been victorious against Spinks, he would have tied the record of Rocky Marciano in winning his first 49 professional fights as a heavyweight with no defeats. Holmes was criticized by many for comments he made after the fight, saying: "If you want to get technical about it, Rocky Marciano couldn't carry my jockstrap".
In April 1986, Holmes lost a rematch with Spinks by a disputed split decision. A bitter Holmes told the judges to kiss his "big black behind," and retired from the sport.
In January 1988 he was lured out of retirement by a $4 million purse to challenge reigning undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Many people predicted Holmes, at 38, was making the same mistake Muhammad Ali had done, coming out of retirement to fight him. They were correct, as Tyson knocked him out in the fourth round, the first and only time Holmes would be knocked out in his lengthy career.
[edit] Comebacks
In 1990, Holmes ended his retirement. In 1992, he upset the undefeated 1988 Olympic heavyweight champion Ray Mercer. Later that year, he got another shot at the world title, but lost by decision to Evander Holyfield. He put together another string of wins, most notably over Garing Lane and Jesse Ferguson, that kept the ageing fighter lingering around the top 10.
Holmes' last title shot was in April 1995. At the age of 45, Holmes came within one point on two cards of winning the WBC title from Oliver McCall. He performed admirably, confusing McCall with his jab, however after 12 rounds he was busted up and severely cut, and lost unanimously.
Had Holmes won the WBC title, he would have fought a unification fight with WBA/IBF champion George Foreman in 1995, and made history. Many attempts over the following five years to match the two aged legends have proved fruitless.
His last fight was an easy decision victory against Eric Esch AKA "Butterbean" in 2002 at the Norfolk Scope in Virginia.
Holmes' total career record was 69 wins and 6 losses, with 44 of his 69 wins coming by way of knockouts.
[edit] Place in History
Holmes' 20 successful title defenses is surpassed only by Joe Louis. The next highest on the list, Lennox Lewis, only has 15. Some of the aforementioned boxers had similar reigns in terms of length of time as champion, but none were nearly as busy in consistent title defenses year after year. Even Louis slowed to a point of about one title defense per year. Holmes had at least three a year with the exceptions of 1982 (2 defenses) and 1984 (1 defense). Holmes also holds the record for most consecutive knockouts in title fights, with 8.
What probably keeps Holmes from superceding those with lessor reigns in terms of fame and recognition was the fact that he ruled in an era with no prominent rivals. Only one other fighter, throughout Holmes' entire reign, could muster up even 2 successful defenses with any other belts. That fighter was Mike Weaver, a journeyman with 8 losses. Holmes did have a sensational win over top prospect Gerry Cooney, but Cooney quickly faded into retirement as did his legacy. Holmes' wins over Norton and Shavers were too early in his reign to have a lasting effect.
[edit] See also
- List of heavyweight boxing champions
- List of male boxers
- List of WBC world champions
- Featured Athlete on Fox Sports Net's Beyond the Glory
[edit] Reference
- Sugar, B. (2006), Boxing's Greatest Fighters, Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press ISBN 1592286321
[edit] External links
- Larry Holmes Official Web Site.
- Larry Holmes fight-by-fight career record at About.com.
- Larry Holmes career record at Boxrec.com.
- Muhammad Ali vs. Larry Holmes at Boxing-Memorabilia.com.
- Larry Holmes' defeat of Ken Norton to win the world heavyweight championship, 1978 (generally considered one of the greatest boxing matches ever).
- Video coverage of Larry Holmes' 1981 technical knockout of Leon Spinks in Detroit, Michigan.
- Video coverage of Larry Holmes' October 1980 technical knockout of Muhammad Ali, along with interviews of Holmes and Ali.
| Preceded by: Ken Norton |
Heavyweight boxing champion (WBC) 1978–1983 |
Succeeded by: Vacancy filled by Tim Witherspoon |
| Preceded by: Inaugural Champion — |
IBF Heavyweight Champion 1983–1985 |
Succeeded by: Michael Spinks |
