Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985.

[6][7] Holmes won his first 48 professional bouts, including victories over Ken Norton (the man he defeated in 1978 for the WBC championship), Muhammad Ali, Earnie Shavers, Mike Weaver, Gerry Cooney, Tim Witherspoon, Carl Williams, and Marvis Frazier.

Holmes fell one short of matching Rocky Marciano's career record of 49–0 when he lost to Michael Spinks in a 1985 upset.

He was unsuccessful in four further comeback attempts (against Mike Tyson in 1988, Evander Holyfield in 1992, Oliver McCall in 1995 and Brian Nielsen in 1997) to regain a variation of the heavyweight title.

To help support his family, Holmes dropped out of school when he was in the seventh grade and went to work at a car wash for $1 an hour.

In his twenty-first bout, he boxed Nick Wells in the semifinals of the 1972 National Olympic Trials in Fort Worth, Texas.

[11] After compiling an amateur record of 19–3, Holmes turned professional on March 21, 1973, winning a four-round decision against Rodell Dupree.

Early in his career he worked as a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, and Jimmy Young.

Holmes rallied late in the fifteenth to win the round on two scorecards and take the WBC title by a split decision.

On June 22, 1979, Holmes faced future WBA Heavyweight Champion Mike Weaver, who was lightly regarded going into the fight sporting an uninspiring 19–8 record.

In the twelfth, Holmes immediately went on the attack, backing Weaver into the ropes and pounding him with powerful rights until the referee stepped in and stopped it.

On October 2, 1980, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Holmes defended his title against Muhammad Ali, who was coming out of retirement in an attempt to become the first four-time world heavyweight champion.

When asked why he was crying, he said that he respected Ali "a whole lot" and "he fought one of the baddest heavyweights in the world today, and you cannot take credit from him.

[17] After eight consecutive knockouts, Holmes was forced to go the distance when he successfully defended his title against future WBC Heavyweight Champion Trevor Berbick on April 11, 1981.

In his next fight, two months later, Holmes knocked out former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Leon Spinks in three rounds.

On November 6, 1981, Holmes rose from a seventh-round knockdown, during which he staggered into the turnbuckle, to stop Renaldo Snipes in the eleventh.

The lead-up to the fight had many racial overtones, with promoter Don King and others hyping Cooney as the "Great White Hope."

Holmes said that if Cooney wasn't white, he would not be getting the same purse as the champion (both boxers received $10 million for the bout).

[18] The bout was held in a 32,000-seat stadium erected in a Caesar's Palace Parking lot, with millions more watching around the world.

[19][20] Holmes's next two fights were one-sided decision wins over Randall "Tex" Cobb and ex-European champion Lucien Rodriguez.

On May 20, 1983, Holmes defended his title against Tim Witherspoon, the future WBC and WBA Heavyweight Champion.

[21] On September 10, 1983, Holmes successfully defended the WBC title for the sixteenth time, knocking out Scott Frank in five rounds.

Promoter Don King offered Holmes $2.55 million to fight Page, but the champion didn't think that was enough.

[24] As 1984 began, Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee, the WBA champion, were signed to unify the titles on June 15, 1984, at Caesars Palace.

[26] On November 9, 1984, after a year out of the ring, Holmes made his first defense of the IBF title, stopping James "Bonecrusher" Smith on a cut in the twelfth round.

The younger, quicker Williams was able to out-jab the aging champion, who was left with a badly swollen eye by the end of the bout.

He agreed to terms to fight Michael Spinks, the undisputed champion at light heavyweight, for his twentieth world title defense September 21, 1985.

[31] On January 22, 1988, Holmes was lured out of retirement by a $2.8 million purse to challenge reigning Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson.

[40] Holmes's final fight was on July 27, 2002, in Norfolk, Virginia, in which he defeated Eric "Butterbean" Esch in a 10-round unanimous decision.

In 2008, he owned two restaurants and a nightclub, a training facility, an office complex, a snack food bar and slot machines.