Larry Holmes didn’t hold back with his view of one world heavyweight champion.
Holmes is one of the greatest heavyweight champions in his own right, winning the WBC title in 1978 and making 20 straight title defences, picking up the IBF and Ring belts along the way.
He lost the titles in 1985 after back to back defeats to Michael Spinks, before he was then stopped inside four rounds by Mike Tyson in 1988 after a near two-year absence.
Holmes came up short to Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall in two further bids to become world champion again, before retiring in 2002 with a final record of 69 wins and 6 defeats.
While his own success is widely applauded, Holmes has criticised a fellow legend for a world title victory of his own.
In 1994, George Foreman stopped Michael Moorer in the 10th round to win the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles, becoming the oldest world heavyweight champion in history in the process.
It seems that Holmes wasn’t impressed with the win though, claiming in an interview that Foreman was being beaten up throughout the bout and only won because he ‘got lucky’.
“George Foreman knocked Michael Moorer out, but a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.
“That’s what Foreman found, an acorn. All night long he was eating right hands. His face was swollen up, he was taking punches all night and he was getting beat up. He got lucky.”
In a separate clip, Holmes called ‘Big’ George the ‘biggest phoney ever’ in boxing.
“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.”
Foreman initially reigned in the 1970s, having epic bouts with the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, before retiring in 1977. He returned after a decade away from the sport, leading to his win over Moorer to claim world honours again.
He was stripped of his belts in the aftermath of the win after opting not to face specific mandatory challengers, before retiring in 1997 after a defeat to Shannon Briggs. Foreman’s final record standing at 76 wins and 5 defeats.
