At the peak of his glittering career, Larry Holmes was one of the most formidable heavyweights on the planet.
‘The Easton Assassin’ rose to fame in the late 1970s, capturing the world heavyweight championship with a split decision win over Ken Norton.
Holmes made 20 successful defences of his crown, picking up victories against Muhammad Ali, Earnie Shavers and Trevor Berbick to name a few.
The first defeat of his career came in September 1985 when he was outpointed by Michael Spinks over 12 rounds. Holmes was given an opportunity to avenge this defeat seven months later, but suffered the same fate against Spinks who kept a hold of his IBF heavyweight title.
Of all the great heavyweight fighters that ‘The Easton Assassin’ faced during his tenure, there was one man that passed him by. That man was ‘Big’ George Foreman, who was dubbed as the ‘biggest phoney’ in boxing by Holmes.
In a resurfaced YouTube clip, Holmes claimed that Foreman ‘avoided’ facing him in the ring, going as far as calling him a ‘fraud’.
“Everybody know that George Foreman can’t fight, everybody know that Tommy Morrison kicked his butt, everybody know that Shannon Briggs kicked his butt, everybody knew that he wouldn’t fight me .. George Foreman is the biggest phoney ever.”
Despite the claims made by ‘The Easton Assassin’, Foreman enjoyed a history-making boxing career which culminated in him becoming the oldest world heavyweight champion ever when he defeated Michael Moorer in a huge upset 31 years ago.
Foreman’s resurgence came after he took a 10 year break from the sport between 1977 and 1987 to pursue his career as a preacher, returning to the sport after he experienced a number of financial difficulties.
