THE 100 GREATEST BOXERS OF ALL TIME #23: LARRY HOLMES

“THE EASTON ASSASSIN”

Kenneth Bridgham

4 min readDec 13, 2022

69 WINS (44 BY KO), 6 LOSSES

WBC Heavyweight Titlist 1978–1983

World Heavyweight Champion 1980–1985

The Ring Fighter of the Year 1982

Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year 1978

International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee 2008

Consistency is probably the most underappreciated form of excellence, but it is excellence nonetheless, and Larry Holmes was the embodiment of consistency for nearly 30 years in the ring. Most consistent of all was his jab. Long, fast, and powerful, he kept it in the face of every opponent without fail and built the rest of his success around it. Sonny Liston had a punishing jab. So did Joe Louis. Muhammad Ali’s jab was fast and precise. Holmes’s was better than them all. Holmes lacked the historic relevance of Johnson, the excitement factor of Dempsey, the patriotic heroics of Louis, the power of Marciano, and the charisma of Ali, but none of them had the longevity of Larry Holmes as a topflight heavyweight.

He had to learn the patience that came with consistency throughout his first five years as a pro, when his lack of a TV-friendly personality or punch meant that promoter Don King and the TV networks showed no interest in making him a star. Instead, he served as a sparring partner for his idol Muhammad Ali as well as Ali’s great rival Joe Frazier. Though Larry was consistently getting the better of an aging Ali in sparring sessions and was undefeated in 25 fights by 1978, he remained a virtual unknown so far as John Q. Public was concerned.

Then King and the ABC Network figured they would feed him to Earnie Shavers, the most feared puncher in the sport. Holmes stunned sportscaster Howard Cosell and the viewing audience at home by clearly outboxing Shavers on March 25, 1978, in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas to earn a shot at Hall of Famer Ken Norton.

The June 9, 1978, Norton fight was the last of a series of memorable heavyweight wars of the 1970s. With things all tied up going into the final round, both men let loose with everything they had, but Holmes showed he had a little more and took the split decision, earning the WBC’s recognition as their champion in the process.

Seven defenses followed (all of them knockouts — including a second win over Shavers) before he became the first man to stop Ali and won the lineal championship on October 2, 1980, at Caesar’s. Battering Ali until the old champion’s corner stopped the fight proved to be less of a feather in Holmes’s cap than an albatross around his neck. Casual fans constantly compared him to the prime Ali, and he could not match his predecessor’s unique combination of personality, political martyrdom, and natural ability.

What Larry was able to do was win. Future titlists Trevor Berbick, Tim Witherspoon, and James “Bonecrusher” Smith met defeat at his hands, as did former champion Leon Spinks and undefeated 6’6” knockout artist Gerry Cooney in one of the biggest boxing events of the 1980s, a racially-charged grudge match held on June 11, 1982, in Caesar’s.

In all, Holmes defended the WBC and/or IBF belts 20 consecutive times and the lineal championship a dozen consecutive times. Either way, that was more than any heavyweight champion since Louis, Ali included. Some questioned the quality of his opponents, but no one could argue that Larry did not face and beat every worthy challenger available to him. By September 1985, going into his showdown with undefeated light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks, Holmes sported a 48–0 record, one win shy of Marciano’s legendary undefeated record. Spinks wound up winning a controversial decision, and an even more controversial one in the rematch. There were plenty of observers who felt Larry earned a win in both fights.

Following a loss to Mike Tyson in 1988, Holmes was out of the ring for more than three years before returning to win five in a row. He then upset undefeated top contender Ray Mercer, delivering a dominant performance and winning a unanimous decision on June 19, 1992, at Caesar’s.

The Mercer win set him up for another shot at the undisputed title. Though he fought well at age 42, Holmes lost by unanimous decision to Evander Holyfield, eleven years his junior. He went 15–2 over the next decade before retiring at age 52, having won his last four fights. Though he initially struggled to gain acceptance from casual sports fans and even cynical boxing insiders, his cumulative record and many ring accomplishments left few critics to deny his greatness by the close of his career.