Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes
Data
Birth Name	Larry Holmes
Fight name	The Easton Assassin
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	November 3, 1949
place of birth	Cuthbert
style	Left delivery
size	1.90 m
Range	2.06 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	75
Victories	69
Knockout victories	44
Defeats	6th
Profile in the BoxRec database

Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949 in Cuthbert , Georgia , USA ) is a retired American boxer . He is considered one of the best heavyweight boxers and the best jabber of all time.

Amateur career

Larry Holmes began his amateur career at the age of 19. In his 22nd fight, 1972, he met Duane Bobick in the Olympic elimination . Bobick knocked Holmes to the ground with a hard right hand on the first round, Holmes came back up, recovered and landed some good jabs . In the second round Bobick landed several hard hands, but could not knock Holmes to the ground, Holmes clung and was warned twice by the referee . In the third round, Bobick was able to bring hard hands to the finish again, Holmes clung again and was ultimately disqualified for clinging.

His record was 18-3.

Professional career

Holmes made his debut bout in professional boxing on March 21, 1973. Because he lived mostly in Easton , Pennsylvania, he was nicknamed The Easton Assassin . The first world-class man he could beat was Roy Williams, who was one of the most feared heavyweights on the scene at the time and against whom the elite of heavyweights were reluctant to compete because of his huge clout. He beat Williams high on points. His jab was already famous at that time. His first significant success he achieved in March 1978 with a high point victory over the tough puncher Earnie Shavers , which he gained the right to fight for the WBC World Championship. On June 9, 1978 he won this title in one of the most spectacular fights in boxing history by narrowly winning over Ken Norton on points . In the following years he successfully defended this title sixteen times, including against (the almost 40-year-old) Muhammad Ali , again against Earnie Shavers (whom he defeated this time in the 11th round by knockout), Leon Spinks , Ossie Ocasio (balance 13-0), Gerry Cooney (balance 25-0), Leroy Jones (balance 24-0), to whom he inflicted his first and only defeat, Trevor Berbick , Renaldo Snipes (balance 22-0), Mike Weaver , Tim Witherspoon (balance 15-0), Scott Frank (balance 20-0), to whom he inflicted his first and only defeat, and Marvis Frazier (balance 10-0). In 1983 Holmes voluntarily resigned his WBC title to accept the world title of the newly founded IBF without a fight.

Holmes defended the IBF belt against James Smith , David Bey (14-0) and Carl Williams (16-0) before he was surprisingly beaten on September 21, 1985 by Michael Spinks, who was also undefeated . Spinks, who previously boxed in the light heavyweight division and was the undisputed champion there, not only inflicted his first defeat after 48 wins, but also prevented him from setting Rocky Marciano's record of being able to cede victoriously after 49 fights. Some journalists therefore suspected that the controversial point verdict in favor of Spink was supposed to prevent Marciano's record from being equalized. After Holmes had lost the revenge against Spinks just on points, he announced his retirement from active boxing.

Holmes then tried a comeback several times , but was no longer world champion. On January 22, 1988 he was defeated by the new world champion Mike Tyson by knockout in round four; this was the only knockout defeat in his almost 30-year professional career.

In June 1992, Holmes, now 42 years old, tried again to recapture the world title, and was defeated by Evander Holyfield on points. Previously, he had prevailed against Ray Mercer (18-0 record), which hardly anyone had thought of him because of his age. Ray Mercer was also the last world-class boxer Holmes could beat. Holmes lost his last title fight in April 1995 just on points against the WBC title holder Oliver McCall , who had surprisingly defeated Lennox Lewis . In 1997 Holmes lost controversially by a non-unanimous decision against the up to then undefeated Dane Brian Nielsen .

In 1999 a fight was planned against George Foreman , who was almost a year older and who made a comeback as world champion in 1994. However, Foreman canceled the fight (allegedly under pressure from his wife). Larry Holmes still fought for the so-called Legends-of-boxing heavyweight title, including against his former World Cup opponents James Smith and Mike Weaver, which he defeated again.

His last boxing match was on July 27, 2002 at the age of 52 against "Butterbean" Eric Esch , whom he defeated over ten rounds on points. Holmes had previously denied the athletic reputation of the three hundredweight man, who held the ominous title of "super heavyweight world champion", and called him a "circus act". Esch allegedly felt so offended by this that he challenged Holmes to a fight. In this, however, he was lost to the ex-world champion, only in the last round Holmes got into trouble and was counted, although he was neither hit nor went down, but only lost his balance.

In 2008, Holmes was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

List of professional fights

69 wins (44 knockout wins), 6 defeats , 0 draws
year	Day	place	opponent	Result for Holmes
1973	March 21st	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton , Pennsylvania , USA	Rodell Dupree	Points victory (unanimously) / 4 rounds
	2.May	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Kind savage	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	20th June	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Curtis Whitner	Victory / TKO 1st round
	August 22nd	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Don Branch	Points victory (unanimous) / 6 rounds
	September 10	Madison Square Garden , New York City , New York , USA	Bob Bozic	Points win / 6 rounds
	14th November	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Jerry Judge	Points victory (unanimous) / 6 rounds
	November 28th	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland , Ohio , USA	Kevin Isaac	Victory / TKO 3rd round
1974	April 24th	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Howard Darlington	Victory / TKO 4th round
	May 29th	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Bob Mashburn	Victory / TKO 7th round
	11th December	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Joe Hathaway	Victory / TKO 1st round
1975	March 24th	Richfield Coliseum, Richfield , Ohio, USA	Charley Green	Victory / KO 1st round
	9th April	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu , Hawaii , USA	Oliver Wright	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	26th of April	Maple Leaf Gardens , Toronto , Hawaii , Ontario , Canada	Robert Yarborough	Victory / KO 4th round
	May 16	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas , Nevada , USA	Ernie Smith	Victory / abandonment 3rd round
	August 16	Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Obie English	Victory / TKO 7th round
	26th of August	Honolulu, Hawaii, USA	Charlie James	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	October 1	Araneta Coliseum , Quezon City , Philippines	Rodney Bobick	Victory / TKO 6th round
	9th of December	DC Armory, Washington, DC , USA	Leon Shaw	Victory / KO 1st round
	20th of December	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan , Puerto Rico	Billy Joiner	Victory / TKO 3rd round
1976	January 29th	Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pennsylvania, USA	Joe Gholston	Victory / TKO 8th round
	April 5th	Capital Center, Landover , Maryland , USA	Fred Askew	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	April, 30th	Capital Center, Landover, Maryland, USA	Roy Williams	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1977	January 16	Aboard the USS Lexington , Pensacola , Florida , USA	Tom Prater	Points victory (unanimous) / 8 rounds
	17. March	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico	Horace Robinson	Victory / TKO 5th round
	September 14th	Caesars Palace , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Fred Houpe	Victory / TKO 7th round
	November 5th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Ibar Arrington	Victory / TKO 10th round
1978	25th March	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Earnie Shavers	Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds
	June 9th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Ken Norton WBC World Heavyweight Championship	Points win (split decision) / 12 rounds
	November 10th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Alfredo Evangelista WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / KO 7th round
1979	March 23	Las Vegas Hilton , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Ossie Ocasio WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 7th round
	June 22	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Mike Weaver WBC Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 12th round
	September 28th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Earnie Shavers WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 11th round
1980	3 February	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Lorenzo Zanon WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / KO 6th round
	March 31	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Leroy Jones WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 8th round
	7th of July	Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington , Minnesota , USA	Scott LeDoux WBC Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 7th round
	October 2nd	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Muhammad Ali WBC Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / abandon 10th round
1981	11 April	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Trevor Berbick WBC heavyweight title defense	Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds
	June 12	Joe Louis Arena , Detroit , Michigan , USA	Leon Spinks WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	November 6th	Civic Arena , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, USA	Renaldo Snipes WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 11th round
1982	June 11th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Gerry Cooney WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 13th round
	November 26th	NRG Astrodome , Houston , Texas , USA	Randall Cobb WBC heavyweight title defense	Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds
1983	27th of March	Watres Armory, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA	Lucien Rodriguez WBC Heavyweight Title Defense	Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds
	May 20th	The Dunes , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Tim Witherspoon WBC heavyweight title defense	Points win (split decision) / 12 rounds
	September 10	Harrah's Marina Hotel Casino, Atlantic City , New Jersey , USA	Scott Frank WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / TKO 5th round
	25. November	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Marvis Frazier	Victory / TKO 1st round
1984	November 9th	Riviera Las Vegas , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	James Smith IBF Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 12th round
1985	March, 15	Riviera Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	David Bey IBF Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 10th round
	May 20th	Lawlor Events Center, Reno , Nevada, USA	Carl Williams IBF Heavyweight Title Defense	Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds
	21st September	Riviera Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Michael Spinks IBF Heavyweight Title Defense	Point loss (unanimously) / 15 rounds
1986	April 19th	Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Michael Spinks IBF World Heavyweight Championship	Point loss (split decision) / 15 rounds
1988	22nd of January	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Mike Tyson IBF / WBA / WBC World Heavyweight Championship	Loss / TKO 4th round
1991	7th of April	Diplomat Hotel, Hollywood , Florida, USA	Tim Anderson	Victory / TKO 1st round
	13 August	Hyatt Regency , Tampa , Florida, USA	Eddie Gonzales	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	August 24th	Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA	Michael Greer	Victory / KO 4th round
	17th of September	Marriott's Orlando World Center, Orlando , Florida, USA	Art Card	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	November 12th	Coliseum, Jacksonville , Florida, USA	Jamie Howe	Victory / TKO 1st round
1992	February 7th	Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Ray Mercer	Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds
	June 19th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Evander Holyfield IBF / WBA / WBC World Heavyweight Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
1993	January 5th	Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi , Mississippi , USA	Everett Martin	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	9th March	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Rocky Pepeli	Victory / TKO 4th round
	April 13th	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Ken Lakusta	Victory / TKO 8th round
	May 18	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Paul Poirier	Victory / TKO 7th round
	September 28th	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Jose Ribalta	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1994	8th of March	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut , USA	Garing Lane	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	August 9	Mystic Lake Casino, Shakopee , Minnesota, USA	Jesse Ferguson	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1995	April 8th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Oliver McCall WBC World Heavyweight Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	September 19th	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Ed Donaldson	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1996	January 9th	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Curtis Sheppard	Victory / KO 4th round
	April 16	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Quinn Navarre	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	June 16	Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Tony Willis	Victory / KO 8th round
1997	January 24th	Brøndby Hallen , Brøndby Kommune , Denmark	Brian Nielsen IBO World Heavyweight Championship	Point loss (split decision) / 12 rounds
	29th of July	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Maurice Harris	Points win (split decision) / 10 rounds
1999	18th of June	Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville , North Carolina , USA	James Smith	Victory / TKO 8th round
2000	November 17th	Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA	Mike Weaver	Victory / TKO 6th round
2002	July 27th	Norfolk Scope , Norfolk , Virginia , USA	Eric Esch	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
Source: Larry Holmes in the BoxRec database

Web links

• Official website
• Larry Holmes in the BoxRec database

predecessor	Office	successor
Ken Norton	Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) June 9, 1978-11. December 1983	Tim Witherspoon
-	Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) September 9, 1984-21. September 1985	Michael Spinks