Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin. Holmes, whose left jab is rated among the best in boxing history, was the WBC Heavyweight Champion from 1978 to 1983, The Ring Heavyweight Champion from 1980 to 1985, and the IBF Heavyweight Champion from 1983 to 1985. He made twenty successful title defenses, which places him third behind only Joe Louis' twenty-five and Wladimir Klitschko's twenty-one. Holmes won his first forty-eight professional bouts, including victories over Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton, Muhammad Ali, Mike Weaver, Gerry Cooney, Tim Witherspoon and Marvis Frazier, and fell one short of matching Rocky Marciano's career record of 49-0 when he lost to Michael Spinks in 1985. Holmes retired after losing a rematch to Spinks, but made repeated comebacks and was unsuccessful in three further attempts to regain the title, the last in 1995. He had his last fight in 2002 and ended with a career record of 69-6. He is frequently ranked as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time and has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
