Can anyone tell me more about Larry Holmes please?

Hey guys, not the most innovate if stimulating thread I know but can anyone give me the low down on him? I've seen a chunk of his fights but no where near enough, and sad to say I know very little about him and the ins-and-outs of his career.

So basically can you guys tell me about him? his big fights, mistakes, career, personality, what he's doing now etc?

One area of interest, I hear he was a really negative, irritable, vulgar (?) kind of guy? is this true? is there anything in particular that supports/proves this?


And yes, I am aware of the infamous off the car drop kick he performed haha.

 

Great fighter, most have him in the top 10 heavyweights of all time, many in the top 5. Was underrated for years but is starting to become more and more respected as a fighter.

As a person, in many interviews he comes across as extremely bitter, negative, and just comes across bad. In person, he is very nice and fun to be around. I haven't heard anyone say a bad thing about him when they met him in person. I've been going to his gym for 4 and half years, and he is in there frequently, and he has never acted like he does in his interviews (unless George Foreman is brought up).

 

You go to his gym? that's awesome.

Why doesn't he like the mention of George Foreman? and why is he so bitter about things? just his lack of recognition? He musta made a crapload of money in his time to be fair.

 

Imo,the third best heavyweight of all time. Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis first and second,respectively. Holmes had the most awesome jab. I think he gets a little pissed off because casual fans tend to look at him as the interim champ between the Ali and Tyson eras. Us real fans know there was far more to him.

 

He's only bitter around the media...and when Foreman is brought up. I think he is just extremely pissed off that Foreman ignored his challenges for years, then when it finally got set up that they would fight in 1999, the fight didn't happen due to the promoter screwing up something with the money.

Larry is still rich as ever, but he is smart with his money and doesn't spend as much as when he was fighting, even though he still has many millions.

 

Yeah I can imagine that being a real thorn in anyones side; he definitely deserves MUCH more respect and such for his acheivements.

My HW history is vague at best, what was the talent pool like in his prime, in fact, when was his prime? did he stay in the game too long? cause I remember him fighting (and losing) to fighters like McCall (no disrespect to him as i'm a fan of his).

It's a shame that fight neer came through, especially given that Foreman fought a LOT worse fighters in his time, and it would have been a good match up.

Good to hear he's doing well - in Facing Ali he looked to be doing very well for himself (i'm not quite sure what his business was in that, though).

 

Larry made his pro debute in 1973, but had been Muhammad Ali's top sparring partner from 1971-1974. He also was a regular sparring partner for Joe Frazier in the early 70's. He didn't get a meaningful fight until 1976 (against Roy Williams) but he broke his hand early in the fight so after he won, he couldn't fight until early 1977. He earned a title shot at Ken Norton by shutting out Earnie Shavers in march of 78, and won the title in June against Norton. He remained champ, making 20 title defences, until 1985, when he lost to Michael Spinks, then lost the rematch in a highly controversial decision in 1986. He got, pissed, retired, made a comeback fight against Mike Tyson in 1988 for the money, got stopped late in the 4th round, then retired again. After seeing Foreman making his comeback, Larry decided he wanted to do it too, so in 1991 he made a comeback with 2 fights in 1 night, but only 1 was in the ring. He stopped Tim Anderson in the 1st round, then proceeded to beat up Trevor Berbick in a street fight, then end the night by drop kicking him off a car. He earned a title shot against Evander Holyfield in 1992 by making Ray Mercer look like a full, but he lost a decision to Evander. To be honest, I don't think he really deserved to get the title shot against McCall in 1995, but he showed he was still able to give the top fighters of the world all they could handle. He had his last fight in July of 2002, at nearly 53 years old.

Here's his complete pro record:

http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=150&cat=boxer

 

Haha he fought Butternbean?!

Thanks for the lowdown, it's a shame i've missed so much of his career cause he's got a great resume.

He did exceptionally well given that he went pro at 24 and was 26/27 when his first break came, though I imagine being a sparring partner for both Frazier and Ali is an absolutely invalueble experience. Also astounding he plowed on til he was 53!

 

He had a funny voice, and he flying drop kicked Trevor Berbick from the roof of a police car, wearing a retro illuminous striped tracksuit, which makes him awesome.

 

Holmes was perhaps the had the least amount of weakness of all great heavies. His resume however lacks a win over another all time great who was in their prime or near prime...but so do most heavies.

Holmes' best stuff was fast hands, a great jab, good height and reach, a top chin with top level recuperation powers, toughness, and the ability to combo and in-fight.

 

Excellent input, thanks guys!

Any key fights I should watch? (i may have seen some/all of them already so i'll let you know).

 

I asked a similar question a while back. Got some pretty good answers. I'll find the thread:


http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191342

 

For me the best fights of Holmes are

Norton
Weaver
Shavers II
Snipes

 

Over rated

 

Great fighter, who near the end of his career, lost his way, and fought Scott Frank and Marvis Frazier instead of at least two deserving heavies.