After facing some of the hardest hitting heavyweights of all time, Larry Holmes has no doubt who hit him the hardest during his professional career.
‘The Easton Assassin’ began his rise to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division during the late 1970s which culminated in him capturing the WBC world title with a victory over countryman Ken Norton when they met at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in June 1978.
Holmes would go on to make no less than 20 successful defences of his title between 1978 and 1985, getting the better of the likes of James Smith, Trevor Berbick and the legendary Muhammad Ali during his dominant reign.
He was eventually dethroned of his heavyweight championship when he suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Michael Spinks in September of 1985 and would fall short in their rematch just over six months later.
In a feature with Boxing News, Holmes made no mistake in naming the hard-hitting Earnie Shavers as the biggest punching opponent he crossed paths with during his decorated professional career, having shared the ring with him on two separate occasions.
“Earnie Shavers, no doubt about it. He could knock the hell out of you!”
Shavers is widely considered to be one of, if not the hardest punching heavyweight to have ever graced the sport, producing no less than 70 knockouts in his 76 career victories.
‘The Black Destroyer’ challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship on two occasions during his tenure, falling short to undisputed champion Muhammad Ali in 1977 followed by WBC champion Holmes two years later.
