The Title Reign of Larry Holmes: Lorenzo Zanon (Article)

If nothing else, Lorenzo Zanon at least looked like a tough guy. In fact, with his baleful glare and outlaw sideburns, Zanon resembled a heavy from a Poliziotteschi—The Big Racket or Shoot First, Die Later, maybe. He was also the perfect fall guy for Larry Holmes, whose two previous title defenses had seen him battered from corner to corner by Mike Weaver and nearly obliterated by an Earnie Shavers right cross that might as well have been a baby grand dropped from a third-story window. Both times Holmes had rallied to score a stoppage, but his struggles did little to hush the murmurous peanut gallery still aching from the absence of “The Greatest.”

“You people don’t give me my just due,” Holmes told the Associated Press before his bout with Zanon. “I followed behind a great man—Muhammad Ali.”

.....Part V of a series on the title reign of Larry Holmes. I think historical articles should be shared for debate, illumination, interpretation, etc.


https://hannibalboxing.com/shoot-the-moon-the-title-reign-of-larry-holmes-part-iv-lorenzo-zanon/