Larry Holmes

scoobygirl30 · #1 09-13-2009, 01:17 PM

Larry Holmes was a boxer and is actually one of my sweeties most favored boxers of all times.

In a family of nine brothers and three sisters, Holmes dropped out of school which at that time he was in the 7th grade to help his Mother through financial troubles. I am sure that you already know that later on in life be became well financially secure.

At the age of 19 he began his amatuer career with a record of 19 wins and only 3 loses. This proved that he not only had heart for the sport but talent as well.

At the age of only 22 (in 1971) Larry Holmes became the sparring partner for the great Muhammad Ali.

In his entire career Larry Holmes never turned down a fight, and for a whopping 7 1/2 years held onto his title. That is until in September of 85' when a controversial decision gave the title to boxer Michael Spinks.

Then in Canastota NY, in June of 2008 Larry Holmes was inducted into the hall of fame, where he resigned as the heaveyweight Champ of 7 1/2 years.

Because my sweetie loved watching this boxer in action, I thought it would be intresting to learn a little bit about him. Through my reading I found him to be intresting and thought that I would share what I learned about him with all of you boxing fans.

Hope that you enjoy as much as I did.

Dyno Don · #2 09-14-2009, 07:56 AM

I remember watching Larry box in several fights on the tube years ago, but didn't know he was Mahammad Ali's sparring partner.

That's cool to know. I've met Mahammad Ali back in the 70's at his training camp in PA.

A quiet man back then and he liked to joke around a bit too.

I remember when our family of three sisters, my younger brother, mom, dad, and I were waiting for him on a bench outside of one of several buildings.

Mahammad Ali comes around the corner with his girlfriend and sees us making idle talk, he asks, "Ok, who wants to fight me first?"

I jump up off the bench and say, "I will". My dad gets embarassed, grabs my shoulder, and says, "Donnie, careful what you say". I tell my dad that the champ was just joking.

Mahammad looks at me and says, "So, you want to fight me?". I said, "Sure, lets go". Then he just said he didn't want any trouble out here, and chuckles with his deep quiet voice.

We all got to shake his hand, get autographs, and I have a picture of him and I standing together.

Awesome experience!

scoobygirl30 · #3 09-14-2009, 10:30 AM

That does sound like it would be an amazing experience. It is a memory to last a lifetime. I am glad that you were able to get his autograph as well as a picture of the two of you together.

I love reading up on some of the people that we see on tv. I think that it is nice to see where they came from, what they have done in the past and what lies ahead in the future.