Larry Holmes is unmistakably one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
Known as ‘The Easton Assassin’, Holmes stormed onto the heavyweight scene back in the late 1970s where he would reign as the world heavyweight champion for seven years between 1978 and 1985.
After dethroning WBC champion Ken Norton to begin his reign as champion, Holmes would go on to rack up a number of impressive victories against the likes of Trevor Berbick, Tim Witherspoon and Muhammad Ali, before he was eventually dethroned by Michael Spinks in his 49th professional contest.
Despite coming up against a number of generational greats, there was one man who Holmes never ended up locking horns with during his career. That man was George Foreman, who became the oldest heavyweight champion in history 31 years ago.
Speaking in a public speaking appearance, Holmes sensationally brands Foreman as a fraud and claims the once formidable puncher ‘couldn’t fight’.
“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.”
A bout between Holmes and ‘Big’ George never came to fruition, although they were linked with a showdown on more than one occasion during the 90s.
Foreman went on to shock the world when he defeated WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Michael Moorer in 1994 to become boxing’s oldest heavyweight champion, an outstanding record which remains unbroken to this very day.
