But even the old Larry Holmes was occasionally capable of pulling off a big win, as he proved in 1992, when he took the dangerous and tough Ray Mercer to school. Holmes lost another debatable decision to Spinks and his ‘Jinx,’ and Larry never again ruled as heavyweight champion. Hagler quit the sport in disgust after falling foul of the judges, Holmes fought on. Holmes was beaten via a decision that perhaps ranks second only to Hagler’s decision loss to Leonard as far as most debated decisions go. Read: Deontay Wilder to work with Eddie Hearn? Learning his craft as a sparring partner for Jimmy Young, Earnie Shavers and later Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Holmes quietly worked his way up the ladder, up the world rankings. Holmes, aged 23 and having had a short, 19-3 amateur career, pounded out a four round decision over a guy named Rodell Dupree. It was 50 long years ago this month (March 21, 1973) when Holmes punched for pay for the first time. In a nutshell, Hagler and Holmes earned every single victory, every single pay day (some of them insultingly small) and every single break that ever came there way. Hagler suffered some bad breaks on the way to the title, while Holmes, though he managed to stay unbeaten on his run up to becoming word champ, had to dig deep in a number of testing fights that a lesser fighter would have grown discouraged at having to get through. Gesta New Main Event On DAZN Tonight!Īnd of course, both greats toiled whilst they were largely in the shadow of somebody – Ray Leonard in Hagler’s case, Muhammad Ali in Holmes’ case.īut Hagler and Holmes are enormously respected and admired for, among other things, their sheer determination and staying power.
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