Larry Holmes: Boxing's Most Under-Appreciated Champ

Larry Holmes was born on November 3rd, 1949 in Georgia. Early in life he moved to Easton, Pennsylvania, the place he has been associated with ever since ("The Easton Assassin"). Holmes became an amateur relatively late in boxing, only starting at age 19 and fighting a mere 22 amateur bouts. That was because in 1971, Holmes was recruited as a sparring partner for the great Muhammad Ali. Ali's main training camp was at Deer Lake, in the nearby Schuylkill County, making it easier for a promising young novice to catch the eye of Ali and his trainer, Angelo Dundee. Holmes also got to spar with fiery Joe Frazier (of nearby Philadelphia), powerful Earnie Shavers, and slick Jimmy Young (also of Philadelphia). This rich pedigree, representing some of the best boxers and punchers of the golden era of the heavyweight division, gave Holmes valuable, formative experience, and a sound foundation for when he turned pro in 1973.

Holmes stood 6'3" with an 81" reach, and weighed in at between 210-215lbs during his prime. This made him a pretty big heavyweight for the period. Holmes eventually developed "the golden jab" - one of the very best jabs in boxing history, and inarguably the best ever weilded by a heavyweight champion. With that jab, Holmes would go out in fights and control the pace of the action, set up his smashing overhand right, and keep punchers at bay. If a man got past his jab, Holmes had a crushing uppercut, reminicent in many ways of that later wielded by Riddick Bowe. However, what defined Larry Holmes was his character. The man had heart, with overcoming brutal assaults and terrible blows to survive, recover, and defeat his adversaries. He treated training like it was a regular, full-time job. Holmes always came into the ring in good condition, he always gave a good performance, and he continued to learn tricks about boxing and refine his technique at a stage in his career when most fighters consider themselves complete and simply do what they do.

Making the Big Time

Holmes toiled in relative obscurity as a pro for five years, mostly fighting on the undercards of the men he was also sparring with. However, he steadily moved up the rankings until he got a match with Earnie Shavers in March 1978. The winner would be the WBC's #1 contender. Shavers was one of Holmes's old employers from his sparring partner days, so Holmes knew as well as anyone that he was getting in the ring with the man who is arguably considered the hardest puncher of all time. However, Holmes also knew that Shavers wasn't much of a boxer, and had stamina problems. He soundly outpointed Shavers, confirmed his place as a top heavyweight, and earned a shot at Ken Norton and the WBC title.

Norton was a man who had fought with Ali three times and beaten him once (some say twice), as well as outfought Jimmy Young. While Norton was vulnerable to big punchers who backed him up, Holmes was not that kind of fighter. It was a crossroads match, with Holmes just entering his prime by 1978, and making his first shot at a world title. Meanwhile, Norton was entering the last days of his own prime, and finally held the title after so many years. The result was a hotly contested fight that was widely seen as even going into the 15th and final round, and both fighters knew it. They came out, met in the ring center, and tore at each other with the sort of heart and desire that makes boxing at its best the greatest of all sports. Norton gave his all, but it was Holmes who won what is now considered the greatest round in heavyweight history. The result was that Holmes won by 1 point on 2 scorecards, a razor thin Split Decision victory, but enough to put the green WBC championship belt around his waist. Still only 28 years old, Holmes was about to embark on an outstanding career as champion.

Holmes in the Late 1970s

"The Easton Assassin" began establishing his reign as heavyweight champion. He knocked out Ossie Ocassio, and then met Mike Weaver. Weaver would later go on to capture the WBA strap for a year and a half. Holmes knocked him down in the 11th, and then out in the 12th.

Then came the famous rematch with Earnie Shavers. Holmes was easily outboxing Shavers, but if anyone ever had a "puncher's chance," it was "The Black Destroyer." Shavers landed a crushing overhand right in the 7th, hitting Holmes so hard that many thought he was unconscious before he hit the canvas. Somehow Holmes struggled to his feet and survived the round. He then recovered and came back to knock out Shavers in the 11th. It was a staggering display of courage, willpower, and stamina.

Destroying an Idol

Keeping busy, Holmes made three title defense in the early and middle part of 1980, including knocking out Canadian fringe contender Scott Ledoux. By this time, Holmes had defended his title 7 times with 7 knockouts. He was then matched with an aged, shopworn, comebacking Muhammad Ali. It was a mismatch that should never have happened, as Ali was already suffering from Parkinson's. However, Ali's persona guaranteed a big payday, and at the end of the day, boxing is a business and Ali wanted the fight to happen. Holmes dominated Ali, who quit after the 10th. It was an old story in boxing: the young lion who must demolish the old champion who has stayed in the game too long.

The Bitter Road to Gerry Cooney

Holmes went on to easily defeat Commonwealth champ and future WBC titlest Trevor Berbick and destroy a washed-up Leon Spinks. He fought undefeated Renaldo Snipes, was badly hurt and dropped in the 7th, but rebounded and knocked out Snipes in the 11th.

Then came the 1982 fight with the popular, undefeated white heavyweight Gerry Cooney. Cooney was a 6'6", 225lbs wrecking ball of a puncher, packing a monsterous left hook. Many thought of him was the greatest white heavyweight since Rocky Marciano, but in truth Cooney was something like a big Jerry Quarry, only armed with more hitting power, but a lot less skill. Nonetheless he was a good fighter, but overhyped and protected. The only two names on his resume were Norton and Young, and by now both men were then at least 5 years past their prime.

Holmes, by contrast, had defended his title 11 times with 9 knockouts, and 6 of those defenses were against solid contenders.Although he did not expect to be as beloved as Muhammad Ali (as has often been said of him), he did have some reasonable expectation of being a popular champion. Yet in a fight that revealed much about racism in America in 1982, he was the reviled villain in a fight where he was forced to enter the ring first, and not last as is the custom for the reigning world champion. Much of the racially charged atmosphere was due to the sleazy promoting of Don King, but the fact was that there had to be animosity there in the first place if King was to exploit it. The irony is that the bad atmosphere had little to do with the two fighters, who became friends after the bout. Holmes even said to Cooney when they were being given instructions in the ring "Let's have a good fight."

When they came to blows, Holmes dropped Cooney in the 2nd. Cooney came back to almost cut Holmes in half in the 4th, an indication of what might have been had Cooney been properly "raised" as a professional fighter. Rounds 5-8 were closely fought in the center ring, but then Cooney started to tire. Holmes dropped him again in the 9th, Cooney started hitting low out of fatigue and desperation, and Cooney got cut over the left eye. Holmes hurt Cooney with a cross in the 13th, drove him onto the ropes, and was set to finish him when his corner threw in the towel.

Holmes tried to get past the ugliness of the Cooney bout, continuing his streak as an undefeated champion. Seeking to rid himself of his corrupt and extortionate promoter Don King, Larry Holmes also rid himself of his WBC title (the WBC and King had and continue to enjoy a close relationship) and instead accepted the title of the new International Boxing Federation. Over the next three years, he decisioned Randall Cobb, Tim Witherspoon, Carl "The Truth" Williams, and knocked out James "Bonecrusher" Smith.

Michael Spinks

By September 1985, Larry Holmes was 34 years old and had amassed a record of 48-0. He was set to tie Rocky Maricano's undefeated record. He was later condemned for arrogantly announcing "If you want to get technical about it, Rocky Marciano couldn't carry my jockstrap." But the truth is that there was a lot to what Holmes was saying, as Holmes later put it, "I was 35 and beating younger guys, [while] Rocky was 25 and beating older guys," and Marciano could not even approach Holmes's record of twenty successful title defenses. In Holmes's record, what one had was Joe Louis and Marciano combined.

However, his next opponent was the dangerous light heavyweight king Michael Spinks. Spinks was 27-0, the undisputed light heavy champ, and arguably the best light heavyweight of all time. He was cleanly outpointed by the younger, faster man. It was The Ring's Upset of the Year. They had a rematch in April 1986, and this time Larry Holmes did much better and by all rights should have won a decision. Instead, the nod went to Spinks by Split Decision. Holmes, who had never really gotten over his experiences with the Gerry Cooney fight, loudly told the judges that they could "kiss his big black ass" and retired.

Comeback

Holmes, however, did not stay in retirement. In 1988, he foolishly took $3 million from Don King to fight Mike Tyson. With more than 1 1/2 years of ring rust, Holmes was in no way prepared to challenge Tyson, who demolished him in 4 Rounds.

He started over again in April 1991, and after 5 straight wins met and upset the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, the undefeated and anvil-jawed "Merciless" Ray Mercer. That got him a shot at undefeated champion Evander Holyfield. By now Holmes was fully retuned, and he gave Holyfield a much more complicated, frustrating experience than he had managed against Tyson. Nonetheless, the young and aggressive Holyfield outpointed Holmes. Holmes went back to work, racked up a six fight win streak over the regulars of the USA Network's now defunct Tuesday Night Fights, and challegened Oliver McCall for the WBC strap in 1995. Holmes did a superb job of baffling McCall with his jab, reducing McCall to outmuscling him. It was a close fight, but Holmes lost it.

Holmes kept on, angling for a fight with George Foreman (Foreman had recently won back the title from Michael Moorer). He won another 4 bouts, and then traveled to Denmark to be robbed in a bout with Danish creampuff Brian Nielsen. He then bounced back with a close win over speedy fringe contender Maurice Harris, and two rematch victories over the even more aged James Smith and Mike Weaver. Finally, he fought Eric "Butterbean" Esch in 2002 and beat him, and then retired for good.

Legacy

With 25 successful heavyweight defenses, only Joe Louis has surpassed the 20 defense title reign of Larry Holmes. In fact, the list of fighters with 20 or more successful defenses in any division in boxing is a short one. He was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2008, and unlike many former heavyweight champions is enjoying some financial success in his retirement as a commercial and residential landlord.

Holmes reign as heavyweight champion continues to be underappreciated. When he does appear on a Top 10 list of the greatest heavyweights of all time, it is inevitably as #8, 9, or 10. Many say that he reigned over the infamous "Lost Generation of Heavyweights," an era marked by fighters who would capture part of the title, only to start snorting cocaine or otherwise lose focus and lose it in the next defense. What is missed by this critique is that when Larry Holmes fought these men, they were usually younger, always at their best, and still years away from their later ruin, and yet he always won. The man who feasted on a pack of old, coked-out, and/or undermotivated fighters was not Larry Holmes, but Mike Tyson, who battled many of the same cast of characters but only after they fell from grace. While Larry Holmes has gained some grudging acceptance from boxing, it is still far from the recognition he deserves.

Sources: www.larryholmes.com; boxrec.com; New York Times; ESPNClassic Sports; Old Fight Footage on YouTube