Larry Holmes remains one of the greatest heavyweights to have ever laced up the gloves.
‘The Easton Assassin’ rose to prominence during the seventies, reigning as the world heavyweight champion for seven years between 1978 and 1985.
After defeating Ken Norton to capture the WBC heavyweight title, Holmes would go on to make no less than 16 successful defences of his crown, defeating the likes of Earnie Shavers, Trevor Berbick and Muhammad Ali during his reign.
One man he never ended up crossing paths with during his tenure is ‘Big’ George Foreman, although it was once reported that an agreement had been in place for the heavyweight greats to lock horns.
Foreman won world honours for the first time in 1973 when he knocked out Joe Frazier inside just two rounds. After taking a ten year break from the sport between 1977 and 1987, ‘Big’ George made a sensational comeback before eventually becoming the oldest heavyweight champion ever when he beat Michael Moorer to unify the WBA and IBF titles in 1994.
In resurfaced footage, Holmes made a shock claim that Foreman ‘couldn’t fight’ before going on to brand him as the ‘biggest phoney’ in boxing history.
“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.”
Holmes would continue fighting until the early 2000’s, winning his 75th and final bout against Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch before announcing his retirement from the sport shortly after, ending his career with a record of 69-6.
