The incredible career of Larry Holmes is undeniable, with many classing him as one of the greatest heavyweights in boxing history.
Known by his alias ‘The Easton Assassin’, Holmes’ professional boxing career began in March 1973. He would go on to win his first 48 contests, defeating the likes of Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers and Muhammad Ali along the way.
His victory over Norton in 1978 saw him capture the WBC heavyweight title, which he made 16 defences of. He later took a hold of the IBF title, which he defended on several occasions before he suffered the first defeat of his career at the hands of Michael Spinks in 1985, going on to fall short once again in their rematch seven months later.
The one man that Holmes regrets never sharing the with during his tenure was ‘Big’ George Foreman, although it was reported that they had agreed to face each other before the fight fell through.
Speaking on ‘What The Hell Happened With Larry Holmes’, ‘The Easton Assassin’ revealed he would have loved to have knocked Foreman out but claimed his foe pulled out of a deal.
“George has a short temper, he’s not a nice guy like me. The people always say ‘what about George?’ I would have had the pleasure of knocking him out. He pulled right out on me.”
‘Big’ George took a 10-year hiatus from boxing between 1977 and 1987, which knocked back a potential fight against Holmes into the early 90’s. Foreman’s resurgence culminated in him becoming the oldest world heavyweight champion in history with an incredible win over Michael Moorer in 1994.
