When Larry Holmes signed to fight Joe Frazier’s son Marvis on November 25, 1983 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, many scoffed at the champ. The kid was only 23 and had a meager record of 10-0, with the most notable opponent on his record being shopworn Joe Bugner. Nevertheless, his father pushed for the fight, trying to convince Marvis that he was read,y and could defeat the 44-0 Holmes.
The fight was on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I had worked the holiday so I could have off the following night to see the fight, mainly since I worked the 3 to 11 pm shift.
I vividly remember telling my manager at the airline I worked at that Larry would knock Marvis out early with a right hand. He shook his head and laughed, since I was always talking boxing with him, and he enjoyed our chats.
The bout itself went according to my script. Holmes dropped Marvis with a single right hand in the opening round. He then corralled the kid into the corner, landed an avalanche of punches, forcing the ref to call a halt to the massacre.
It was kind of pathetic to watch the spectacle. The WBC didn’t even sanction it as a championship fight, and it was easy to see why. Larry had his paycheck, left Vegas, and Marvis never was taken seriously as a heavyweight contender again.
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM AT kensoldtimeboxingchat
