Larry Holmes reigned as the world heavyweight champion during one of the sport’s greatest era’s.
Known as ‘The Easton Assassin’, Holmes captured world honours for the first time back in 1978 when he defeated Ken Norton via split decision to claim the WBC title, before making no less than 20 successful defences of his crown.
He defeated a number of legendary heavyweights during his seven year reign as champion, including the likes of Earnie Shavers, Tim Witherspoon and Muhammad Ali, who is often regarded as the greatest of all time.
Holmes’ reign as world champion came to an end in 1985 after he suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Michael Spinks. He was also beaten by ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson in 1986, suffering a fourth round knockout defeat to the formidable undisputed champion.
After locking horns with ‘Iron’ Mike, as well as an abundance of other hard-hitting heavyweights including Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall, ‘The Easton Assassin’ gave a surprising answer when asked who actually punched him the hardest during his tenure.
Speaking to Boxing News, Holmes claimed he felt the power of Earnie Shavers more than any of his other opponents.
“Earnie Shavers, no doubt about it. He could knock the hell out of you!”
Shavers is often credited with being one of the best heavyweights to have never won a world title. He challenged for top honours on two occasions during his career, falling short to Ali in 1977 followed by Holmes in 1979.
‘The Black Destroyer’ is unquestionably one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight boxing history, having knocked out 70 of the 76 fighters he faced in his 26-year professional career.
