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Larry Holmes, “The Eastern Assassin,” always remained a controversial figure in boxing. And some of that controversy, I would like to think, was caused by his own doing, reluctantly or not. No, I am not just referring to just his beating of Muhammad Ali. “The Greatest” was old enough to make up his own decision to take that tragic 1980 fight with Holmes which ultimately ended up with him being stopped for the first time in his career after being retired on his stool by his corner between the tenth and the eleventh rounds. After making twenty defences of the championship, he defended the IBF portion against Michael Spinks on September 21st, 1985. It was Holmes’ forty ninth bout and he was hoping he would have equalled the great unbeaten record of Rocky Marciano. However, that was not to be when the judges voted unanimously to give the contest to Spinks and make him the new champion. Marciano’s perfect heavyweight record remained intact. A rematch was set for 19th April, 1986 and the result was no different although it was a split decision that time.
After the first Spinks fight, Holmes remarked, “if you want to get technical about it, Rocky Marciano couldn’t carry my jockstrap.” It was something that bothered and has stayed with Holmes ever since.
Holmes later said, “All these years later, people just can’t forget that. It still haunts you. After all these years, people won’t let go.”
So, the question is would Larry have gotten more respect if he had equalled Rocky Marciano’s record?
I am not so sure.
You see, there was a certain disliking of Holmes even before the first fight with Spinks. Although no fault of his own, Ali had become the face of boxing by the time Holmes and the former three time champion fought and was loved by everybody around the world. Larry was reluctant to be facing Ali across the ring but he had a job to do. Gone now was Ali’s footwork, reflexes and speed. The finesse of the younger champion told the story as Ali took punch after punch, battering and bruising his then thirty eight year old body. By the tenth he could take no more and Angelo Dundee called for the bout to be stopped. Holmes broke down in the ring after and admitted that it wasn’t a fight that he really wanted to take. But boxing has a business side to it, and, well, Holmes had to also put bread on the table like any one of us.
Still, I do not think the public ever forgave Larry for that fight. The disliking of him was already there and memories still linger in the minds of many about that forty two year old shellacking. This is why Holmes is often mentioned in discussions about underrated heavyweights and underrated champions. Because he was not fully appreciated during his prime.
So, whether Larry Holmes had equalled Rocky Marciano’s record or not is irrelevant with respect to his reputation.
He could not win either way.
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