Born to a Georgia sharecropper, Larry Holmes would go on to reign as boxing's Heavyweight Champion for an unprecedented seven and a half years, successfully defending his world championship title a record-setting 19 times.
Known as "The Easton Assassin," Holmes was one of Muhammad Ali's sparring partners when Ali set up a training camp in Pennsylvania near Holmes' adopted hometown of Easton. The two would eventually face off in a fight billed as The Last Hurrah near the end of Ali's historic career. Over the decades, the two have remained close friends.
Holmes has also remained close friends with Gerry Cooney, with whom he had one of his biggest fights. The fight was so big that Caesars Palace constructed its first outdoor arena in the casino's parking lot. Despite the promotion of the fight playing the race card to full advantage, neither Cooney nor Holmes had personal issues regarding race. Today, they are not only friends but also support each other's charitable causes.
Though nearly forgotten by history, Holmes passed on a potential payday of over 30 million dollars to fight white South African contender Gerry Coetzee. The fight was to be held in South Africa during the time of Apartheid and while Nelson Mandela was still in prison. Supporting the worldwide boycott of South Africa until racial justice was in place and Mandela released, Larry Holmes walked away from what would have been one of the richest purses in the history of the sport. Unbeknownst to Holmes, Nelson Mandela kept a photo of "his champion" in his prison cell.
Recently, Holmes has appeared in movies for National Lampoon, GRUDGE MATCH, and recorded an episode of Mike Tyson Mysteries.
