Larry Holmes was less than complimentary when it came to one heavyweight boxing legend.
Holmes is a legend in his own right, having been world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985, making 20 successful defences of his crown during that time.
He defeated fighters such as Muhammad Ali, Earnie Shavers and Ken Norton, but then suffered back-to-back defeats to Michael Spinks to surrender his world heavyweight champion status.
After nearly two years away, Holmes returned to face Mike Tyson, but was knocked out inside four rounds, the only time in the career of ‘The Easton Assasin’ that he had ever been stopped.
Despite a loss at the hands of Tyson, Holmes seemingly doesn’t rate the ability of his former rival, after he revealed in a past interview with Bryant Gumble that he wouldn’t have survived if he competed in a different era.
“Everybody in this room here would have been able to beat Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson was born right. You’d have never heard of him [in our era].”
Tyson remains the youngest world heavyweight champion in history having claimed world honours at the age of 20 years, 4 months and 22 days. He became undisputed after wins against fighters such as Trevor Berbick, Tony Tucker and James Smith.
‘Iron Mike’ initially ended his career in 2005 with a record of 50 wins, 6 defeats and 2 no contests, but returned at the age of 58 in November 2024 after nearly two decades away for a controversial bout against Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, with Paul winning the fight by unanimous decision after eight rounds.
