Larry Holmes was entering the year of 1979 as the WBC Heavyweight Champion of the World. The heavyweight from Easton, Pa. had been a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali for years, and had made a successful title defense against Alfredo Evangelista in November. He was gaining acceptance as a good boxer, but was heavily in the shadow of his predecessor, Ali. I gravitated toward him since he was the new champ, and I was a new boxing fan as well. When Ali announced his retirement in 1979, the torch had been passed in a sense, leaving big shoes to fill.
Larry made a lackluster title defense against Ossie Ocasio in March of 79, with many sportswriters criticizing every move he made, comparing everything he did to Ali.
Larry showed his courage and ability to me in June when he fought a tough and capable Mike Weaver in Madison Square Garden. Despite having a cold and being badly weakened, Larry dropped Mike with an uppercut late in round 11, and stopped him the following round. That performance impressed me, and I knew he was going to be champ for a good, long while.
His next title defense took place on September 29th in a rematch performance with the hard hitting Earnie Shavers. Their first bout was in March of 1978 in which Larry won a unanimous decision, and earned his title shot with Ken Norton.
Holmes controlled the action of the fight with his stiff jab until the middle of the bout, when in his words, lightning struck! A tremendous right hand dropped the champ from Easton, Pennsylvania on the seat of his pants, He arose and lasted the round, but was badly hurt. He recovered in the eighth, and bobbed and weaved to return in control of the action. He kept his punches coming in bunches, and by the 11th round, he finished Earnie with a combination of blows. His gutty performance proved to me he was a great fighter, and made me realize with every fight I watched, boxing was becoming a big part of my life.
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